They couldn’t jump again either. Something went wrong when they jumped. The capacitors only had a residual charge but they had allowed the jump, seven hundred thousand klicks he guessed. One of the capacitors for the jump drive exploded during the jump causing a containment breach forcing him to jettison the singularity core leaving them stranded. It caused a hull breach which he sealed with a repair kit. They were outside the orbit of the tidal locked moons. The explosion had taken out the emergency transponder as well it seemed. It would take a miracle for someone to spot them with all of the debris in the system. He had plenty of power and three quarters of his fuel and nowhere to go. Balin Tor V had been the only inhabitable world in the system. He decided it was best to save the fuel so he put the shuttle in orbit with the windscreen facing away from the planet and they drifted. He didn’t want them to see what happened. They had questioned him about their parents and he lied, saying they were ok. Another cough.
Anna clung to him more than the others. She was a pretty little girl with thick blonde hair, and hazel eyes. He had begun to imagine his own child looking as she did. He had come to love Anna. Ryan had decided when, if, they were rescued he would adopt her if she had no relatives and she wanted to stay with him.
That seemed like forever ago as he sat in the pilot’s seat with his finger poised over the life support shut off. He couldn’t stand to see them suffer any longer. He thought better of switching it off altogether. Life support was actually many systems, blower motors, heating or cooling units, CO2 scrubbers and artificial gravity. He disabled the audible warnings before disabling the air recycler but he left the fans operational to circulate air. Now it was just a matter of time.
***
Akema could feel the cold space on the sensors of the drone. They were an extension of her will but not hers. Each had its own will controlled by its programming. She considered them as children, rebellious at times. She gave them instructions but their own programming would override her and do as it pleased. It was infuriating. One drone in particular had taken off in search of a signature it detected in high orbit around the planet. She could see its flight path but it would not respond to query. It had activated a boost in its speed shunting all power to the engine cutting off communication back and forth. The others were behaving.
The Relentless carried two types of drones, ADD’s Automated Defense Drones and ASD’s Automated Sensor Drones. The ADD’s were always deployed in close proximity to the ship. They were equipped with countermeasures and were the ships first line of defense from ranged attacks. The ASD’s were deployed at extended ranges and typically only when you needed to take in the bigger picture.
A burst of data from the wayward son exploded in her mind. It chattered like an excited child. He found a derelict craft. Its hull was badly scorched at the rear, there was a hole in the bottom as well. Organic signatures inside. Minimal atmosphere.
“Captain. We have located a damaged shuttle in a high geosynchronous orbit with the debris field above the planet.”
“Set a course. I’m on my way to the bridge.”
***
Anders wasn’t sure how long it had been or what was going on in his head. It throbbed mercilessly and the whole shuttle seemed to be ringing like a gong. Someone was tapping on the hull.
He turned around in his chair. Oh how his head ached and swam. It was cold and his joints were stiff as well. He roused Anna.
“Hop up baby. I have work to do,” she nodded sleepily and slid to the floor and took the seat beside him.
A suited man appeared in the windscreen. He was holding onto the hand rungs located around the hull. When he saw Ryan and Anna he gave a thumbs up and spoke inside his helmet. He looked perplexed and tapped the side of his helmet in a can’t hear you gesture. Ryan shook his head and pointed to the patch. The man nodded inside his helmet and pulled a device out of a pocket, place it on the glass and pushed a button. He spoke and his voice resounded in the cabin as if he were in the shuttle.
“My name is Commander Brice. We are here to provide assistance. Do you need a tow or can you get under way?”
Ryan powered up the air recycler and set it to maximum. The commander’s voice in the shuttle woke the children and they started to stir.
“We have power and fuel enough to dock if you are close by.”
Brice smiled and looked to his left. His helmet light glared inside the cabin. Ryan leaned forward into the windscreen and peered out. The Relentless was just a few hundred meters off to starboard.
“Relentless. We have visitors inbound. Please indent and verify,” Brice said.
Akema’s voice came over the channel.
“The shuttle is of the same manufacture as the Enteritor shuttle but I am unable to verify, the core is down. Shuttle please proceed to aft hangar. Medical crews are awaiting your arrival.”
Brice pushed off flying freely into space above the shuttle. Anders leaned forward and looked up, an assault shuttle hovered just above. He powered up the engines and made his approach. He was looking forward to a hot shower. Most of all he was happy that the children would be safe.
“Look baby,” he said to Anna. The Relentless’ open hangar filled the windscreen. “We have been rescued.”
“Will my mom and dad be there?”
“‘I don’t think so.”
She looked sad and like maybe she would cry.
“I know I can never replace them but I’m here for you Anna.”
“I know.”
Ryan piloted the shuttle into the landing bay. The plasma window flickered against the hull as it passed through. Normally he could have activated an automated landing sequence but something had disabled the computer onboard the shuttle. The only automated system that still functioned had been life support and those were nearly impossible to disable in this day and age. Communications had been offline as well. The shuttles SI was inoperative too. He had tried to inspect and repair the damaged system but he really had no idea what he was doing. All of his attempts failed, but he was trained as a pilot not a knuckle dragger.
He nestled in next to a sleek black fighter with the call sign “Scorch” stenciled below the canopy. The shuttle settled down onto the deck and the hum of magnetic locks engaging permeated the air. Two people looked down from the control room. The bay doors began to close as Akema’s voice came into the cockpit from the makeshift speaker.
“Magnetic locks engaged.” There was a pause of a few seconds. “You may disembark. Medical crews are standing by to assist you.”
Ryan opened the rear hatch. Fresh air rolled in, well, fresh compared to what they had been breathing the past few days. The shuttle bay doors began to slide closed. Airlock and hangar bay air usually smelled heavily of ozone and burned steak. The first breath always stung the nose, and made the eyes water. Ryan had learned to take that first breath slowly.
He stepped down the ramp holding Anna’s hand and motioned for the other children to follow. A beautiful lady in her late thirties with auburn hair and mesmerizing green eyes wearing a Union doctor’s uniform approached them. She had the air of a person who knew what she was doing.
“Are there any serious injuries?” she directed her questions to Anders who she deemed to be the only adult. “Is there anyone you think needs immediate attention?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so Mam. We are mostly dirty and hungry and were beginning to lose hope.”
She touched his shoulder. “You are in good hands here Mr. Anders.”
Her calling him by name startled him at first, before he remembered his name was on his flight suit.
“Thank you Dr. Pendrie,” he told her, paying her the same kindness she showed him.
It was a small detail that rarely went overlooked.
“Take them to sick bay. Children please follow my assistant Ms. Kate,” she said pointing to a petite blonde girl carrying a small medical case and looking joyful, something she was taught to do when dealing with children Anders guessed. Keep
them at ease.
Dr. Pendrie walked beside Ryan. The blast doors opened onto the wide corridor to engineering. Nein was in the passageway loaded for bear.
“Try not to look around too much Mr. Anders. You will be passing sensitive areas on your way to sickbay and some of these military types get overly excited,” she said smiling at Nein as they walked past him.
***
“Twenty One survivors onboard the shuttle,” Lieutenant Lokae began his briefing of the captain. “I’m going to go over the shuttle with a fine tooth comb. The pilot survived, we will question him once Millie clears him.”
“I want to talk to him myself. Inform Millie I want to speak with him in my quarters when she is done.”
“Yes sir. And the rest of our scans have shown no signs of our Telarian friend. No radiation signatures match those like the ones we have on record from the Voltari. The weapon used on the planet wasn’t Telarian but it was meant to look like their scorched earth weapon. The residual ions don’t match known instances of its use. If it is, it’s a new version. Can’t imagine reengineering such an effective weapon though.”
“It is the most diabolical weapon ever unleashed by a known species,” the captain agreed.
***
Ryan stared at the ceiling still enjoying the fresh air. The medical scanner levitated over his body once, then again and then back into its hiding spot at the head of the table. He sat up once it tucked itself away. Anna hovered just to his side.
“You can get a shower while I process the results. The stall is across the room there.” She pointed to a nondescript door on the other side of the room. In between them was a sea of children, dirty, hungry. “Towels are in the cabinet just inside the door and you can acquire a fresh uniform. If you don’t mind wearing the uniform again. I’ll scan the little one while you clean up.”
“Anna. Can you stay with Ms. Milli for me?”
Milli smiled her best smile for her. Anna nodded.
“Thank you baby. I won’t be long. Ms. Milli is going to check and make sure you are okay but she won’t hurt you.”
He hoisted Anna onto the table.
“Can I ask you something Dr. Pendrie?” he asked as he stroked Anna’s hair unconsciously.
“Sure.”
“How do you know so much about a person?”
“Mr. Anders, I see people in their most honest moments. Sick and injured, down and out. How you deal with your ailments says a lot about your soul. Are you a tough guy, or a softie, am I stitching you with or without pain killers. I’m observant. Plus it is my job to put you at ease when you are falling apart, literally. Those things take talent, I have had classes in psychology. All of those things—aaand I scanned your chip from your time in the service. You never had it removed,” she said with a smile.”
He liked her. She was witty, a smart ass. And she looked amazing in her uniform. She had nice assets. He needed that shower. Maybe a cold one.
He opted for the hot one. He scrubbed everything, twice. Brushed his teeth for five minutes. When Ryan stepped out of the water he had never felt so clean.
He slid on the new uniform. It was sleek and fit better than he remembered. Then again, the uniform didn’t look like these when he was commissioned. Anders had been a warrant officer during his short term. He flew transport shuttles for ground troops and supplies. Phantom had been his call sign. His passengers said more than once he had either been invisible or a ghost because his shuttle never got hit, not once, no matter how thick it got. It was true, his transport never took a round. He stepped out of the stall and looked around at the children. They all looked so lost. There was no joy at being rescued evident in their faces. He assumed it was because the reality of the situation became a little more tangible when none of their parents joined them.
Dr. Pendrie approached him with a short, dark haired soldier.
“The captain has requested your presence in his quarters. Mr. Chaz here will escort you. I’ll look after the children until you return,” she added, feeling the apprehension in the air.
***
The captain sat in his chair and stared out the window in his office. He needed to see the stars. They were somehow comforting.
The pilot they had rescued was on his way now. Sean had been looking over his service record. Ryan Anders had served in the Union as a troop transport pilot, the most decorated of the war with the Telarians. He never lost a soul aboard his shuttle. Injured men often requested that Phantom medevac them because they knew he would get them home.
Ground incursions were rare. The Union only maintained two ships capable of a ground assault, the Ragnarok and the Torrent. Anders served aboard the Torrent. His accommodations came mostly from the same mission. A platoon had been pinned down and he was sent to extract them while other craft provided air support. The fighters were shot down and he continued to the extraction point. When he arrived they had all been injured. The Phantom exited the shuttle with a rifle in both hands, several hand guns and a pack of ammunition. He retrieved several of the soldiers that could not make it on their own, one at a time. He had being injured himself during the evacuation. The men he rescued said they had never seen such bravery, or stupidity. This Anders guy sounded like Sean’s kind of soldier.
The chime for the door activated.
“Come in,” the captain said.
Chaz remained in the corridor when Ryan entered, he was not concerned about someone getting the upper hand on Sean.
The captain stood to greet Ryan and extended a hand. Anders took it and shook firmly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Anders.”
The captain motioned for him to take a seat and he sat down himself.
“And you Captain. I can’t express how grateful I am that you came to rescue us.”
“I’m glad to be of assistance. However, it was reported to me that you were all killed so there was no urgency in us coming to investigate.”
“So the Union knew we were attacked and no one sent help?” Ryan’s tone told the captain he was upset.
“That seems to be an accurate assessment. I’m not sure of the details. Had I known no one was actually sent to look for survivors I would have arrived sooner.”
“Who told you there were no survivors?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of my mission as you can understand, but we didn’t come here for you. That fortunate occurrence was pure luck I’m afraid. And now that you are here, I’m not sure how to proceed. We were not equipped to deal with children.”
“Tell me about it. You can drop us off at the nearest stardock or colony. I’m sure we can make due from there.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that.” The captain pondered his next words for a moment. “I’ll level with you. We are looking for whoever did this. We will bring the responsible party to justice.”
“Count me in sir. Reactivate me. These bastards need to pay for what they did to these kids.”
“I admire your enthusiasm. I’ll have to consider the impact of this new turn of events and get back to you Mr. Anders—”
“Ryan, please.”
“Ryan. Either way, this will not go unpunished.”
“Thank you sir.”
***
Lokae examined the shuttle. Judging from the damage they should have retained communication, the array was intact. The explosion that stranded them in the system had destroyed one capacitor for the jump drive. There were three others, but Ryan had no way of repairing the damage or rerouting the power. He had jettisoned the core after that, probably to conserve power. Lokae had determined the failure was due to extreme temperature in excess of its design and a power spike during a jump causing it to rupture.
The real mystery seemed to be why the onboard computer ceased functioning afterwards. He sat in the pilot’s seat and linked his tablet to the mainframe interface. It was dead. The Enteritor and its shuttles shared the same SI so it should have a duplicate copy of the mothership’s
memories. Lokae had hoped to avoid pulling and stripping the SI unit for diagnostics but it appeared he had no choice.
Pulling the unit would be easy enough. Two cylinder type keys inserted on each side, turned clockwise and counterclockwise respectively and the lock cylinders popped out. A pull handle in the bottom was pulled up locking into position and then slide the unit out. It had sockets in the rear of the unit that provided connections to the shuttle.
These units were the same dimensions in all Union military vehicles. Private companies often used identical SI matrices because they were cheap and plentiful. He snapped a square antigrav pod to the back and stood it up lengthwise. Once powered on the antigrav pod would allow him to guide it effortlessly by the release handle on top. He took it to one of the repair bays where he began the process of tearing it down and inspecting it.
Lokae began the tedious process of dismantling the SI unit. Inside the housing was an external shock absorbing material shaped around a cylindrical outer and inner core. The SI processor core was the inner cylinder and the outer, much larger area, was the memory core.
He removed the CPU assembly by grabbing the hand rung that lay in a depression on the top, pushing down and rotating clockwise until it stopped. Then he gently removed it and stood it up on the table and began inspecting the exterior. There were scorched areas on the outside of the casing which was a sign of a power spike powerful enough to arc through the insulation. He actuated the releases and removed the insulation. Inside where round processor cores stacked on one another, eight in all with a twelve centimeter diameter and five tall. Lokae carefully took each one off of the assembly and placed it on the work bench. Each one had a series of push and twist locks like the casing assembly.
All of the CPU cores showed signs of a power spike, melted contacts, black marks and pitting. Damage of this nature was a power surge equivalent to that of a lightning strike.
He discontinued his examination of the SI processor and moved on to the memory core. It was layered in thinner layers than the CPU and this portion of the unit was protected from power spikes with an internal surge protector secondary to the main one which obviously failed. The dual redundant system usually kept the memory modules intact. They did not have signs of surge damage. He would need to begin the retrieval and reconstruction process, not a daunting task but it would take some time to complete.
Relentless: Book One of the Union Warship Saga Page 15