Strike Battleship Engineers (The Ithis Campaign Book 2)

by Shane Lochlann Black

  “Dominique, what does it mean when there are two red lights?”

  “Your commlink has activated its proximity transmission indicator.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The proximity transmission indicator will alert you to the presence of readable EM traffic within a pre-selected range. Skywatch commlinks are set to detect such transmissions within a range of six miles. They can be configured for larger ranges by the signals section.”

  “How come I can’t hear them?”

  “Your commlink will only generate audible information if your designator is being hailed by the transmitter.”

  “Can I talk to them?”

  “Affirmative. Please upload the designator of the transmitting station.”

  “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “To determine the designator, please follow the procedure displayed on the screen.”

  Aibreann flipped the commlink over and tried to understand what was being displayed, but the words were scrolling by too fast.

  “I don’t know these words. This is too hard.”

  “Would you prefer a mnemonic procedure list?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Mnemonics are symbols and illustrations that assist Skywatch personnel in performing tasks that require operations in detail. The requested procedure will display a series of three dimensional illustrations of your commlink unit, each keyed to a step in the procedure. Uploading a remote designator is a seven-step task that will require approximately 45 seconds to complete.”

  “Okay, I want to try it.”

  The words on the commlink faded and were replaced by a diagram showing the controls on the unit. Each step highlighted the buttons to be activated and then highlighted the parts of the commlink that would display the requested information. Aibreann took to the mnemonics feature like a duck to a spring pond. Moments later, her commlink began to play back the sound of voices.

  “I don’t understand what they said. What does it mean?”

  Aibreann’s request allowed Dominique to analyze the speech patterns in the unidentified transmission. The Argent command computer instantly recognized whomever was using their command net had no authorization.

  “Commander, Argent recommends you upgrade your alert status.”

  After what she had been through, Aibreann knew exactly what that meant, even without a procedure to follow.

  “Are they bad guys?”

  “Argent command net estimates unidentified personnel are hostile with 91% confidence.”

  “I’ll help you Dominique! I’ll go find them! Come with me!”

  Twenty minutes later, Aibreann’s mother awoke to the unusually loud sound of the outside breeze. She made her way to the living room where she found the front door standing wide open. Seconds later, she found Aibreann’s room empty. This time even Boots and Checkers were left behind. Parakeet had returned to action.

  “Not again,” she whispered.

  Fifty

  “Argent to Hunter.”

  What had started out as a forward combat engineering post had rapidly become a ground base for the battleship’s senior officers. Yili had even assembled a refueling facility for the fighters using the reactor they had invested so much time and energy getting to the surface intact. Argent’s senior staff was gathered around a workbench that had been pressed into service as a conference table aboard the Copernicus. A plan was being quickly hatched to move on Gunfighter’s Quarry.

  “Hunter here.”

  Rebecca Islington’s voice was equal parts confused and annoyed. “Captain, something has gone haywire on Flight One. That gunship that we recovered from the surface is requesting launch clearance. The only problem is there’s nobody aboard.”

  “Log in to the command net and stand it down, lieutenant.”

  “Well, that’s the problem, sir. Black Seven somehow upgraded its own alert status. We’re locked out. The gunship’s autosystems are keyed to a designator I’ve never seen before.”

  “What designator?”

  A pause. “Parakeet.”

  “Who the hell is ‘Parakeet!?’” Hunter roared.

  Zony put her hand over her face and began to slide down in her seat. Perhaps if she disappeared behind the table she could vanish altogether. At least that was the theory. It didn’t work.

  “Engage your overrides, lieutenant. You have my authorization codes. Stand that ship down!”

  “Sir, Black Seven is in hover mode over the deck. If we kill its systems, it will crash. It already suffered considerable damage during the battle.”

  “Where is it going!?”

  “It’s moving aft at five FPS, towards Flight One’s containment screens. Cal thinks its course is Starhaven, but we can’t confirm.”

  “If it hits those screens, we’ll have a bigger problem than a wreck, lieutenant. Patch me to the command computer!”

  “Affirmative, captain. You’re on.”

  “Neek, this is Captain Jason Hunter, commanding officer, DSS Argent. Authorization Victory Seven Seven One Five. This is a priority one override directive. Deactivate Tarantula Hawk gunship Black Seven immediately and confirm status to this designator.”

  “Unable to comply. Gunship Black Seven is on upgraded alert status. Autosystems are responding to a request for surface civilian defense. External access to core functions are restricted without counter-authorization by the vessel’s command pilot.”

  “Then connect me with the vessel’s command pilot!” Hunter’s most urgent concerns were abated. The gunship hadn’t gone rogue, so the autosystems were still governing crucial safety protocols like weapons release, atmospheric maneuvering and anti-personnel defense. The captain could at least be certain it wouldn’t start chasing friendly civilians all over the countryside. Nevertheless, having a powerful warship fly off on its own was not something the captain would have preferred under ideal circumstances.

  By now Zony had both arms over her head. It was only a matter of time before a lightning bolt from the captain’s eyes left nothing in her chair but the memory of the first Skywatch officer to recruit a fourth-grader as a co-pilot. The delighted faces of the rest of the Bandit Jacks weren’t helping.

  The hailing tone sounded on Aibreann’s commlink. She was hurrying down a dark road quite a distance from her house. She stopped and instinctively checked her portable life support. It was still functioning at more than 90% capacity. Then she activated her transmitter.

  “Dominique, I can’t talk now. I have to go find the bad guys.”

  The channel clicked. Islington’s voice was growing more and more concerned with each transmission.

  “Captain, if we don’t let Black Seven go it’s going to crash into the containment screens.”

  Hunter keyed his commlink and exercised every ounce of self-control he could to keep a smile on his face. “Parakeet? Come in, Parakeet.”

  A pause.

  “You’re not Zony! Who is this? Are you in the pilot’s club?” Aibreann demanded. Zony began making plans for a daring escape.

  “This is Zony’s captain,” Jason replied with a gentle smile. “Yes, I think I’m in the pilot’s club. What exactly are you doing?”

  “Me and Dominique found bad guys in the village and I have to go get them! Zony said so!”

  Moo clasped his hands behind his head and bent over the table. Anything to keep the captain from seeing his superhuman effort not to laugh.

  “I understand, Parakeet. I have new orders for you.”

  “Did Zony say it was okay?”

  “Yes, I think Zony will approve,” Hunter replied with a raised eyebrow in his signals officer’s direction. “I want you to go back to your house and give the commlink to your mom. Understand?”

  “But what about the bad guys?”

  “I’ll take care of the bad guys.” Captain Hunter’s deliberately exaggerated patience was almost too much for Annora. She looked as if this was as cute as she had ever seen her captain behave. “But fir
st I need you to go back to your house.”

  “Awww.. me and Dominique almost found them too.”

  “Tell your mother to contact me when you’ve arrived, Hunter out.”

  The channel clicked.

  “Sir? We’ve got to do something about this gunship.”

  “Can you verify the autosystems are in full operation?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Then drop the containment screens and launch it.”

  “Sir?”

  “Launch Black Seven!” Hunter growled before tossing the commlink over his shoulder. It clattered on the deck as he pinched his eyes together.

  Fifty-One

  “Attention on deck.”

  The battalion corporal at the entrance to the executive conference aboard the battlecruiser Fury called the assembled officers to attention. Jayce Hunter strode in a moment later, wearing a striking set of blue-shaded fatigues and a matching cap with the emblem of her flagship.

  “Be seated.”

  There were more than two dozen officers present, representing the commands of seven Perseus squadron vessels and several recently-arrived specialists from posts all over Skywatch. All were rather impressed by the fact Fury’s executive facilities had been completely renovated. The meeting was taking place in the ship’s largest conference cabin, which was now appointed in various shades of maroon and crimson with mahogany detailing. No fewer than three reactive crystal displays had been installed at either end and along one side of the long center table.

  “This meeting is restricted.” A few of the attendees glanced at each other. “I am pleased to report our refits will be complete within the next 18 hours. We have been ordered to Gitairn Sector 17 to begin a two-month patrol mission.”

  The officers waited patiently during the pause. There were always two shoes to drop in these hastily called command staff meetings.

  “But we’re not going to Sector 17,” Huggins finished for his captain.

  Everyone glanced around again.

  “Are we flying off on our own, ma’am?” Commander Teller asked.

  Hunter took her seat at the head of the table, took her hat off and opened a thin folio. “Negative. Our patrol orders have been countermanded by CINC Eastern Fleet.”

  “CINC East? We’re not under Admiral Powers’ command, ma’am,” Commander Pierce said. “Something going on at headquarters?”

  “I have reason to believe our deployment to Sector 17 is an attempt to get us out of the way and make Argent more vulnerable. There is also the matter of Captain Hunter’s crew, which has either been abducted or affected by the same phenomenon encountered by the crews of the Kingsblade, Agamemnon and Dunkerque. Rebecca is pinch hitting, but without pilots, Argent is crippled and needs to be relieved as soon as possible.”

  “But Admiral Powers–”

  “The Admiral agreed with my assessment and assured me he would run interference for us at Skywatch Command. I’ve been granted leave to freelance until further notice and I’ve been assigned serious backup from Powers’ fleet marine division. They are now attached to my Task Force command along with pilots and deck crews for Argent’s fighters and mechs.”

  “Rickenhauser is going to have a litter of kittens when he hears about this,” Commander Huggins said.

  “He can rage all he wants, sir. Powers is a four-star. Only CINC Skywatch can belay his orders and I don’t see that happening any time soon,” Teller replied. “The fact nobody has responded to the disappearance of Argent’s crew should be all the justification we need.”

  The conversation volume started to increase and Hunter tapped the table a few times to get the meeting back to order. “There’s more. I received all of Argent’s research into the strange phenomenon we’ve been encountering since the Gitairn situation began.” The commander stood and dimmed the conference room’s lights before activating the forward display.

  “The first unusual events took place not long after Argent arrived. There was a suspicious transmission from Barker’s Asteroid, followed by an attack from an unmanned cruiser-class ship and then the sudden appearance of Admiral Hughes’ abandoned flagship.”

  “The Dunkerque,” Huggins added. Hunter nodded.

  “Someone or something did just about everything they could to lure the captain and his officers aboard, including faking a transmission from Commander Doverly. Only Argent’s signals officer managed to save them from disappearing forever along with that ship. There were also false LRS readings projected into Sector Two, which led all of us to believe there was a massive fleet out there preparing to invade the Core systems.”

  “Did we ever discover whether those transmissions used the same technology as the teleporting starships?” Commander Flynn asked. Hunter turned back to the display, where an annotated diagram featuring the handheld alien device was projected.

  “Argent’s engineer and signals officer theorize some new kind of energy scattering field. We have reason to believe it was at least partially improved by the synthesis of the power dampening technology invented by Lieutenant Curtiss. Finding that connection was one of the reasons Argent was able to unravel the mystery. Technically, they aren’t teleporting matter or energy. This technology ‘accelerates’ it to a higher frequency, so to speak. It is distantly similar to our jump gate technology but this energy field doesn’t require permanent hardware to function. The scattering effect allows them to move matter or energy through folded space. In our reality, it allows them to traverse great distances while in their ‘reality’ they only need travel a short distance.”

  “So they can get a starship up to a certain velocity, then zap it into the middle of our formation,” Commander Mallory concluded.

  “Or teleport an entire crew somewhere else,” Teller added.

  “Exactly,” Hunter replied.

  Lieutenant Cooper spoke up. “Is this an alien technology?”

  “I believe the first devices were recovered from the site of the alien obelisk on Raleo Two. I can’t prove it, but I think Colonel Atwell believes he can use this mechanism as a weapon and give his forces an advantage when they attack. He even used it to escape from Argent’s brig.”

  “Attack?” Commander Flynn asked.

  “Captain Hunter and his crew encountered some kind of strange energy field which they believe is generated by a combination of the alien technology and our vessels’ standard SRS wavelengths. They first saw this effect aboard the Dunkerque, when it allowed Captain Hunter to move from one dimension to the next. Most recently, the simultaneous use of SRS energy at multiple locations allowed all five of Argent’s senior officers to communicate across a distance of more than 90 light years in real time.”

  Teller whistled a low tone. “That would normally take what, fifteen jump gates to relay?”

  “At least,” Lieutenant Sutherland replied.

  “Prior to discovering the connection, Captain Hunter discovered credible evidence a battle plan belonging to Colonel Atwell was being smuggled through Magellan’s Pass by a Q-ship escorted freighter column. We suspect at least 28 starships may now be operating in league with Atwell’s forces. I believe there are more. So does the Admiral.”

  “So they are planning a fleet action?” Huggins asked.

  “Both Argent’s command and my own are convinced they’re going to hit the Bayone System with amphibious, ground, air and space forces. We have detected unusual activity at the old Lethe Deeps planetary defense base on Bayone Three, along with evidence of a gigantic subterranean power grid. Based on reports from Minstrel, I personally have reason to believe enemy forces are also gathering on Bayone Four and on the moons of Bayone Six.”

  “But why? What are they trying to accomplish besides launching the biggest space battle in 40 years?” Flynn asked.

  Hunter switched the display to a tactical view of the Raleo Star System. “Approximately 60 hours ago, the command frigate Northumberland vanished not far from the edge of the Raleo system. Captain Hunter was able to verify this
first hand as it was detected while his officers were under the effects of the scattering field phenomenon. Lieutenant Tixia’s theory about the SRS energy may have been confirmed by this incident. Hunter believes Commander Kent used his scanners to try and query the navigational beacon and may have inadvertently triggered a scattering field they hadn’t previously detected. The ship is currently missing with all hands.”

  “They’re trying to divert attention from Raleo Two,” Teller concluded.

  “That’s my theory. The captain agrees. Any attempt to approach the Raleo star system will likely be met by the forces Atwell is mustering to strike at Bayone. Captain Hunter believes they are using the Lethe Deeps base to study and enhance whatever they first discovered on Raleo Two. Normally I’d take this whole thing to fleet, but after all the blowback we’ve been getting, none of us are sure who we can trust back at HQ. Technically, our mission is to apprehend Colonel Atwell and his operatives. Practically speaking, that means we’re going to engage whatever forces are supporting him.”

  “Where does that leave us, ma’am?” Commander Mallory asked.

  “It leaves us with ten starships, Argent’s strike wing, 117th Orbital Combat Engineering, the 715th Artillery Company, Sixth Armor and the 14th Infantry.”

  “What’s the mission, skipper?”

  “We’re going to hit Bayone Three like a truck driving through a chicken coop.”

  Fifty-Two

  Colonel Lucas Moody wasn’t sure which sight was more comforting: The activity on Argent Flight Deck Two or the immense presence of the new marine armor that had arrived aboard Commander Hunter’s special delivery transports.

  Standing near what the colonel could only describe as tracked mountains of dense ablative metal bristling with guns large and small was a woman dressed in a severe long black uniform coat with sharp-looking red trim. A black beret with a unique red and gold unit emblem completed the ensemble along with the rare insignia of a Skywatch section chief. She was walking around the hulls of a line of Razorback heavy tanks and checking items off a handheld tablet.