“Silent Maam for sure.”
“Well done Neo” praised Aubrey. Neo grinned with pride. “Ask Martin to do the honours on the recovery?”
“Of course Maam!” responded Neo. He hailed 2nd Lt Martin Lodi, the Quartermaster, and gave him a warning order for the recovery.
Down in his office on D deck Martin was delighted by the diversion. So far they had only practiced such a recovery once before during their work up trials two months ago. That had been with one of the P19s. He pulled up the knowledge base on the P22 recovery and noted that for it to be done cloaked he had to rely on the P22’s AI. This was the default procedure and would be invoked once the probe was within range.
It would manoeuvre the probe to approach the Phantom from the stern and sync with their current speed. It also had to position itself within the Phantom’s cloaking envelope and then within effective range of the MagGrab device. Once the MagGrab was activated the sensors on the probe would detect it and cut power to the probe’s engines.
Martin winced a little on reading that. He knew that he had to be really sure before he activated the MagGrab lest it prove effective enough to cut the probe’s engines but not effective enough to secure it. He checked the time and decided it best to run through a simulation of the manoeuvre before he would have to do it for real.
Chapter 5. Resolute in Qwantum 1255, 13 August
Martin Lodi was not the only quartermaster anxious to affect a clean MagGrab in space. Val had her hand on her lover’s shoulder, Cpl Tracy Gordon, as Tracy was about to activate the MagGrab on the Konkorda Pod 2. There was absolute concentration on both their faces as Tracy lined up the sight for the grab.
Tracy had been issuing manoeuvre instructions to James up in the cockpit. Together they had decelerated the big ship to a point where it was only just going faster than the pod. “Ease off a notch James” ordered Tracy.
“Roger” said James. His voice betrayed the tension.
Val could see the pod within the MagGrab’s sight as displayed on their control station. She had a green light. It looked good. She tapped Tracy’s shoulder.
“No wait…let’s close the distance a bit more” said Tracy calmly. “A bit more. Come on. Yeah gottcha!” she exclaimed as she activated the device and saw the blue light confirming the grab.
“Way to go girl!” said Val and she leaned over and gave Tracy a peck on her cheek. But Tracy ignored it and maintained her focus as they reeled in the pod. She tapped the control to open the bay door on Hold R2. “Well go on Val. You need to hurry” harried Tracy.
Val turned and darted out of the MagGrab control room and ran down the corridor of H deck to the big hatch that was the entrance to the R2 hold. Standing outside were the two military police, all suited up with their pulse rifles. But they still looked nervous. They could see Val at full stretch and instinctively tensed. She hit the seal switch on her suit and felt her helmet lock. She drew her pistol and hit the hatch control. They entered into the air lock and waited till the outside hatch closed. Val instinctively checked her suit seal and oxy level. ‘All good’ she said to herself. She glanced at the others and they nodded. So she turned on the hold lights and opened the inner door to reveal the pod suspended below the MagGrab device. Tracy had obviously secured the external doors.
“Tracy I’m in” hailed Val. “You can let it down now…gently and turn on the atmosphere.” The pod was lowered down and the MagGrab released. “Nice” hailed Val.
“My pleasure” replied Tracy. “Now remember what I said about not rushing in.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll be careful” replied Val like a school kid receiving advice from a big sister.
One of the police had shouldered his weapon so he could use both hands to release the pod hatch. “Stop” ordered Val. “Not a good idea if you value your life.” The policeman backed off. “I’ll do this” said Val.
She unclipped the small rectangular device from her belt, pressed a control on it and then positioned it over the hull of the pod. Its magnetic field clamped to the hull. Val selected the right comms channel for the device and hailed. “Whoever is inside, we come in peace. We are from the Human Federation and are here to rescue you. Please acknowledge.”
Inside the pod Retna could not believe what he heard. At first he didn’t understand it at all but then the message was automatically translated into rogan, which he did understand. He wasn’t sure if this was a ruse or not. His hand hovered over the control he had setup to activate an explosion of sorts. Yes it had been jerry rigged to use the remaining fuel but Retna was confident it would work. Better to go out with a bang he had told himself.
But right now part of him so wanted to believe the message. It was so fanciful that he knew he should hit the control. But still…
“Please acknowledge. This is 1st Lt Gomez of the Federation Ship Resolute. Please acknowledge in whatever language you can.”
This time the message was relayed in gelk and sleth as well as rogan. Hearing his tongue tipped the balance. Retna knew it was a silly thing really but he wanted to hope, he wanted to believe.
“Lt Gomez this is Retna. Is there a breathable atmosphere outside?”
The device relayed the message to Val. Her suit’s comms protocols handled the translation and Val noted that it was the sleth language on her HUD (Heads Up Display) on her visor.
“Yes it is breathable Retna. Welcome. Please come out. You will be safe.”
Retna forced his free right arm to reach for his pistol ‘just in case’. But then he dropped the idea all together. He activated the hatch release. He breathed in the air mixing in from the outside, took hold of the hatch rim with his right hand and began the laborious task of extracting himself. The effort required was too much and he slumped back down.
Val saw the familiar reptilian hand of a sleth and then realised he had stopped. “It’s OK Retna. Please come out.”
“I need help” came the weak voice. “Please!”
Val was still wary. She checked to see that the police had their weapons trained on the opening. She then put her foot into the foot step only then realising how small it was. She pushed up and, raising her other leg, took hold of the hatch rim with her free hand. Her other hand brought her pistol into alignment with the opening.
As soon as she could see into the vessel she holstered her pistol. The sleth lay slumped at the bottom almost completely filling the space. “How on earth did you get in?” she asked.
Retna craned his head to look back up through the opening. Three weeks of being crammed in, virtually unable to move, had accelerated his muscle atrophy. His dark green eyes looked up at the suited human. They bore his shame at not being able to extract himself but they also carried his plea for help.
Val could not help but be moved by his plight. She leaned a little further over and extended her gloved hand but Retna was too weak to meet it with his own. “Just stay put for a moment. I’ll get some help. We’ll have you out soon.”
“Thank you” said Retna.
“John this is Val, I need a med team with a gurney down in Hold R2 pronto and have Jelka come down. It’s a sleth named Retna. We need time to extract him but you can tell the boss we’re right to warp now.”
“Right Oh” acknowledged John, who had taken over the watch. He barked off some quick instructions and then turned to Dave. “We’re right to warp!”
Dave was pleased to finally get the go ahead to warp. It was now almost 1330 and the whole recovery operation had taken a lot longer than he had hoped. He wasted no time in ordering the Resolute to warp in to Q2. John had been watching his boss for the last five minutes as Dave was getting restless in his seat. The tell-tale tapping of his fingers on his arm rest was a sure indication of his skipper’s impatience. So when he got the order John too wasted no time in activating the warp.
But instead of the usual transition there came an alert and a loud audio warning “Gravity fluctuations have exceeded the safe threshold. Warp sequence aborted.”
“What the fuck!” called out Dave in frustration. “Chase! You should have checked for this” said Dave angrily.
“Sorry” said a chastened Chase. He double checked the route and position. “Oh, Iooks like I didn’t allow for the pod drift. It’s entered the no go zone. Only just. Give me a sec!” He didn’t dare glance across at Dave who he knew would be fuming and he was.
But Dave checked himself. He was already regretting the outburst of anger. He didn’t lose his temper often but when he did everyone knew it. So he started taking in some deep breaths. But his mind was working against his will. It was drawn to the problems of time and space that now confronted him. The inner tension wasn’t helping his stress levels. Finally he said to himself ‘Stop it. Wait for Chase. Relax.’ He deliberately forced his back upright to maximise the flow of breath in his body and he took a few more deep breaths.
“Got it” exclaimed Chase. “If we go back the way we came on max impulse power we can be ready to warp in twenty.”
“We could force an override of the warp protocols” suggested John.
“What and risk being bundled out of warp and vulnerable just as an enemy frigate is due to arrive” challenged Dave. “No we won’t do that. Options?”
“Stay and fight the frigate” contributed John.
“Move away and warp later” said Chase.
“If we engage that frigate now we will have lost the element of surprise against the enemy cap. That’s our biggest threat” stated Jasmin.
“But there’s a real risk that enemy frigate will detect us” said John “even if we try and move away. They will be well within visual detection range.”
“You’re assuming they will be looking for us” said Chase. “They’re looking for a small pod on a track towards the gas giant.”
“Time’s up” said Dave “We won’t engage the frigate now. Chase, get us a different route away from this area and John double check the calculations for the no go zone.”
Chase felt the sting in having John check his work but he knew he’d cocked up. He avoided any eye contact and instead focussed on his screen.
A couple of minutes later they powered away at high speed.
Chapter 6. Phantom in Sturam 1400, 13 August
“Uploading now” hailed Martin Lodi triumphantly after successfully retrieving the probe.
“Love your work” responded Tola from the command centre. She then turned to Phil “What do we now have on that space station?”
“Give me a minute, please!” said Phil desperately.
Neo, who was also scanning the new data, piped up “Huge sensor arrays…facing back towards the planet.”
“Standard fare” responded Felis “if you’re spying on your own people.”
“It’s armed to the teeth” announced Phil. “Missile batteries, beam weapons, fighters, shuttles and this looks like a ship repair or maybe even a ship construction facility.”
“What about visual scanners facing out?” asked Aubrey.
“Don’t appear to be any Maam” responded Neo.
“Good!” said Aubrey.
“But those facing the planet may well detect a warthog, cloaked or otherwise” said Tola. “They’re a real threat.”
“What about the far side of the planet? Is there another space station there?” asked Aubrey.
“Negative” responded Phil. “But there is another cap and two frigates. The holo should update now. There it goes. See. We could go over the north pole when it’s night this side.”
“Mmm” pondered Aubrey. “When will that be?”
“Aagh…1914” advised Alice. “We could start our run at 1812.” Alice had already set the controls to display a possible approach route on the holo. “See there” she said highlighting a point along the route “that’s where we will enter the field of detection of the enemy viz scanners.” A time indicator appeared next to the point saying 1930. “I thought I would give us a bit of leeway, just in case” she added.
“Good work” said Aubrey. She turned to Pious and Evie. Evie nodded first and Pious followed suit. “OK Alice, lock it in. Evie you had better get ready.”
Evie stood up from her observer’s chair like someone who had been waiting for this moment for a long time. “Thank you commander” she said just before turning and leaving the command centre. Felis was in tow.
Julian took this opportunity to approach Aubrey. He bent forward and when his head came along side Aubrey’s he asked in a quiet and measured voice “what do you reckon the probability is of that station detecting us on the way in?”
Aubrey cocked her head so she could bring both eyes to bear. She too spoke in a quiet manner “Not high, but not insignificant either.” Julian nodded as though he had expected that answer. “We’ve come a long way Sir. We can’t take it out, not by ourselves. So the only options are to try and go around it or warp away. I know that Evie wouldn’t be impressed if we turned and ran.”
Julian nodded again. “No she wouldn’t. Let’s hope this roll of the die is in our favour.”
Chapter 7. Resolute in Qwantum 1410, 13 August
Dave had retired to his office. He was still annoyed with himself for losing his temper back there. He sat down on the small couch and closed his eyes pondering his own motivation. He used his breath and the mantra to still his mind. After a good two minutes his mind stopped racing, another minute and he felt the agitation dropping away.
‘Yes, I’m attached’ he thought to himself. ‘But to what?’ He shook his head determined to stop interrogating himself. He sought the comfort of the mantra’s repetition. There it was the dark void of his inner vision. ‘So peaceful’ he thought. Then nothing. He was lost.
A few minutes later it came to him like a thunderclap. ‘Of course. I really want that quick kill, to dominate and prevail…the hunter…my ego.’ Part of him wanted to explore that thread more but the inner pull was greater. He dropped deeper into the void.
The knocking sound was getting louder. “Sir” said Ivan, a little exasperated, as he poked his head in through the partly opened door.
“Oh sorry Ivan what is it?” asked Dave as he recalibrated his bearings from the inner world to the outer.
“We’re at the waypoint, ready to warp.”
Dave shook his head. “Belay that. Change of plan. We’ll loiter here cloaked.”
Ivan pushed open the door fully and came in. His tall frame seemed even taller from Dave’s seated position. “Why?” asked Ivan.
“Commander’s intuition. Is that good enough?” Ivan shook his head. “Something’s not right” added Dave.
“With what?”
“My motivation.” Dave could see the puzzled look on Ivan’s face. “Look I was all too keen to come to grips with the enemy. That’s not really our prime objective here is it?”
“We’re at war and we have the opportunity to destroy the enemy and advance our interests here like you said.”
“Yes but our prime mission is to find out the cause of this anomaly.”
“I think that broadcast answers that.”
“We haven’t even interrogated that sleth we just hauled in let alone determine the rate of increase in the gravity and established the likely time frame for it to wreak havoc on Q3 and this whole system.”
“Surely we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
“Yes we can but I think in this case it’s best to take things slower. As long as we avoid detection from that frigate we will still have the option to take out the enemy cap tomorrow.”
Ivan looked intently at Dave. He could see his resolve and he had known Dave long enough to know when it was pointless arguing with him. “All right you’re the boss. Leave it with me.”
When Ivan entered the command centre he simply said “Change of plan. The boss wants to loiter here cloaked till tomorrow.” Ivan looked around the room, saw that everyone was cool with that and he walked out. Anyone walking in would have seen a smile on Ivan’s face. Unlike himself everyone else was qu
ite happy to accept their commander’s intuition. If the truth be known Ivan had been prepared to accept it too. It was just that when Dave had left open the question he was intrigued to delve further.
Chapter 8. Resolute in Qwantum 1800, 13 August
Dave approached the dining tables in the officers’ mess where Chase and Kat were seated. “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked.
Chase looked a little surprised. Kat spoke up “Please do Sir.” She already knew about what had happened earlier. It had taken a bit of coaxing to get it out of Chase but she was good at that. Her relationship with Chase had developed in leaps and bounds since he had introduced her to his parents on Nova Vista and declared in front of them that he loved her. They now alternated between their cabins but rarely slept alone. They made a good looking couple.
Dave sat down with his plate but he paused rather than take up his knife and fork. Chase was still avoiding direct eye contact even though he sat directly opposite Dave. Dave turned to Kat. “You heard about what happened earlier?” Kat nodded.
“Chase” said Dave. This time Chase looked at his boss. “I owe you an apology Chase. I lost my temper earlier on. As annoying as your oversight was it didn’t justify my outburst. I’m sorry.”
Chase hadn’t expected this. For a moment he didn’t know how to respond. Kat used her elbow to poke him. “No Sir you don’t need to apologise to me. I cocked up good and proper. I deserved to be balled out. It really should be me apologising to you.”
There was real contrition in Chase’s expression and Dave recognised it. Dave smiled. “OK then. We both cocked up. Matter closed?”
Chase nodded.
“Sir” said Ivan who had walked in a few moments earlier but had waited for the right time to interrupt. Dave turned around. “Jelka just been talking to this sleth guy we pulled out of the escape pod. According to him that device they used on Q4 was made by the Mintoslum Corporation on the rogan planet Cheklin. That’s where Aubrey’s headed isn’t it?”
Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) Page 11