On to Tau Ceti

by David McCahan

  “That sounds really great now that I’m awake enough to feel my stomach. I’ll shower and be up in 30 minutes then?” she asked.

  “Sounds good. See you then.” Jeff said as he closed the connection.

  Saoi sat looking at her and mentally she could feel his confusion.

  “I know I lied but I couldn’t tell him that I got lost in merge again. How did we lose track of time? We were merged for hours but felt like seconds. I never wanted it to end.”

  “I feel the same but I do not like deceiving General Fitsimmons like that. All the same I understand your feelings on this and will leave you to handle the situation, for now.”

  Glory felt his discomfort and innocent honesty. “Oh alright, I surrender. You’re right, honesty is the best policy. I’ll come clean with Jeff, promise. Now I need to shower and change so why don’t you go freshen up, change and be back here in 20 minutes?”

  “If you want. How should I change? Taller, different color eyes?” he thought to her.

  “You know very well I meant to change clothes. Now go on so I can get showered.” She gave him a little nudge to get him moving.

  “Ok ok, I’m going, sheeesh push much.”

  “Jeff, I have a confession to make and I’m afraid how you might react but I need to be honest with you.”

  Glory was sitting across the conference room table from Jeff with Saoi by her side. She was looking more at the table than her commander and friend and biting her lip in nervous anxiety.

  “Glo, I’ll promise to listen and stay calm. The last time I nearly got a wall dropped on me so I don’t want to risk injury by going off the handle again.”

  “General I swear I was not going to drop the wall on you just place it between you and Glory.” Saoi was still anxious about the last time Jeff had lost his temper with Glory.

  “I believe you Saoi, believe me.” Jeff said holding up his hand with a slight chuckle. “Now Glo, confession is good for the soul so out with it.”

  “Jeff I am so sorry but I was so shocked and surprised earlier that I lied to you. I didn’t over sleep. We got lost in a personal merge and I couldn’t admit it to you. I don’t know what happened because we had over 8 hours before I was due up here for watch and we felt like it was only a few seconds then suddenly there was the commlink going off and I was just confused and startled and didn’t know what to do and I’m just so sorry. I’ll do whate..”

  “Glo stop, take a breath.” Jeff cutoff Glory’s rambling run on explanation. “Now I’m not going to say I’m not concerned but it’s not the end of the world. At least you were not in full cybernetic merge at the same time so that shows a lessoned learned.”

  Glory winced slightly at the mention of the wormhole incident.

  “Now speaking as a friend and not your commanding officer I do have to say I am concerned. The loss of time for one is very disconcerting. How can we know that you won’t just get lost in a merge and not come back to us or we have an emergency and not able to get to you?” Glory nodded and looked down at her hands in her lap. Then Jeff looked to her partner in crime “Saoi, I would think you should be able to control the merge so what happened?”

  “General, this type of joining is unlike anything we as a Collective have experienced before. When joined into the Collective we are still aware of our surroundings and perception of time, but this was totally different. We joined as one, just the two of us were a single mind. Until now this has not been done and the perception of the world around us was gone. There was only Glory and it was only seconds from what I could tell. I cannot explain it.” Saoi said as he looked down at his hands and then at Glory.

  “Alright, I’ll put my commander hat back on now.” Jeff looked from Glory to Saoi for acknowledgement then continued “Colonel Callaghan I need you to promise me that you will refrain from personal merge with Saoi without express authorization from me.”

  Glory looked at Saoi with tears beginning to well up and then to Jeff. “You have my word Sir. I also accept any disciplinary action you wish to issue.”

  “No I don’t think we need to discipline you for something so unexpected although I need a promise from both of you no more deception. I need complete honesty.”

  Before Glory could say anything Saoi spoke up. “General I will guarantee you this and I’m speaking for both of us.” A tear rolled down Glory’s cheek and she looked up at Jeff and nodded in agreement.

  Jeff got up from his seat and stood beside Glory resting his hand on her shoulder. “Ok commander’s hat off and now your friend is standing here. You look like you could really use a hug.

  Glory looked up at Jeff and tears flowing freely stood and embraced him tightly. After a time, she pulled back and then looked at his wet shoulder. “Oh Jeff I’m sorry.”

  He laughed and then “Number one I’m getting tired of you apologizing and B it’s not a big deal. Now the food’s getting cold and I’m hungry so can we eat now or is there anything else earth shattering we need to discuss?”

  Saoi brightened up at that suggestion. “I second that motion. Hey is there any pie?”

  Index

  Chapter 10 - Standoff

  The rest of the transit out of the Tau Ceti system was uneventful and finally Columbia crossed past the Heliopause into interstellar space. The anxiety of the crew increased as they approached the ‘Jump’ to Delta Pavonis. Would the wormhole transit be the same as the last time? What were the attackers the other Collective needed help from?

  Jeff keyed his com “All departments update systems status.”

  Glory monitored the systems status and when all were updated she reported “All systems report green for Jump.”

  “Nav, course status?” Jeff queried.

  “Course plotted and laid in with escape drop out of wormhole plotted Sir.” Eva answered.

  “Nav, you are cleared for Jump to Delta Pav.”

  “Yes Sir, we have positive Gravity Bubble, lock on Delta Pav, engaging Grav Drives, matching wormhole frequency and entering wormhole. Positive tracking on our transit and estimated time to wormhole exit 484 seconds ….. mark!” Eva narrated the Jump maneuver and started the countdown clock.

  Glory monitored the Jump via cyber merge with the ship and Saoi watched the Jump in merge with the Collective. Though not merged Glory and Saoi were still connected in thought as always.

  “We watch ahead for the end.” His thoughts reassuring to Glory.

  “We’ve improved our sensors since the last Jump, let’s see who can find it first.” She laid down a little challenge.

  “Loser buys the pie?” Was his light hearted response.

  “So no way for you to lose on that bet?” She thought back and glanced over to see him wink at her.

  Jeff caught the exchange and leaned over to his second in command “Status on the Jump, Glo?”

  “Yes Sir, everything looks normal. The Collective are looking forward into the wormhole and since we’re applying sensor tuning from what we learned on our last Jump we’re going to see who can spot the end first. Evidently loser buys the pie.” Glory gave Saoi a glance out of the corner of her eye.

  “What? You made a bet on pie and didn’t think to include me? I may have to think of disciplinary action on that one.” At that Jeff gave Glory a pat on the shoulder and went back to his station.

  As the countdown to wormhole exit continued to advance concentration was high. Glory kept a tight watch on the ship systems and while the Columbia’s position was being tracked properly there was no read yet on the wormhole exit.

  Finally, the countdown reached 60 seconds. All systems still performing perfectly but no detection of exit. Then 30 seconds, 20 … 15, 14, 13, 12, 11 “Wormhole exit, wormhole exit spotted” Glory announced.

  “We see it as well” Saoi said.

  Countdown now 5, 4, 3, 2 then “Wormhole exit, Dropping Grav Drive, Ion Drives braking, all stop 84 million miles from Heliopause.” Eva announced from her Nav station.

  This time Glory didn’t
leave Jeff hanging “Confirm successful wormhole exit and station keeping short of Heliopause.”

  “Thank you Colonel, Tactical on your toes. We don’t know if or where we might have hostiles in the area. Astrometrics start your system scan and report as soon as you have anything.” Then turning back to Glory “Do we have shuttles hot?”

  “Yes Sir, for now all birds are manned and ready to launch if needed. Once we get a tactical understanding of the system then we can setup a stand-by rotation and keep a half flight hot at a time.”

  “Glad to have that extra half flight Eileen Richardson sent along. Let’s hope we won’t have to use them and hopefully after we get the initial scan from Astrometrics we can begin standby rotations.”

  After an hour Astrometrics had the initial system scan but asked for Columbia to move parallel to the Heliopause for two hours to get better angles to verify the findings. Currently Captain Bonnie Anderson was briefing the senior staff.

  “We will need to continue to refine and detail our scans as we move in system but here is what we know at this point. We have confirmed that we are dealing with the Basel Confederation again, but not just one battle cruiser but three of them in orbit around the 4th planet of the system.” Bonnie keyed the 3d plot to zoom in on the 4th planet and three red icons began to blink, positioned in high orbit together. “We have not detected any other artificial devices in system. The Delta Pav system comprises eight major planets and a large asteroid belt between the 6th and 7th planets. Delta Pav itself is a near twin of Sol. The 4th planet is also very Earthlike in that the mass is 1.1 times that of Earth’s mass and with an atmosphere similar to that of Earth. Ideal for colonization and would be reasonable to conclude that is the reason for the Basel Confederation to be here also.” The plot continued to show the 4th planet with the three battle cruisers in orbit along with the planet’s two moons.

  Jeff then turned towards Captain Andrew Zimmerman, Columbia’s Tactical Warfare Specialist “Captain Zimmerman, we didn’t think we would need to employ your specialty on this mission but here we are again. So do you have any thoughts?”

  “Yes Sir, during our encounter with the Invincible we found that their navigation and tactical systems were extremely good. However, they did not have Gravity Drive capability and so no advanced gravity sensor systems. We should be able to make a normal approach above the elliptical plane to the 5th planet of the system. Currently the 4th and 5th planets are close to alignment so we can use the planet to cover our approach somewhat. If we time our approach from there to coincide with the orbit of the 4th planet’s moons, then we can hide behind the larger of the two and then plant the space phantoms story to scare them off.”

  Jeff considered the plan for a minute. “I’m not wild about bringing us in that close to three of those battle cruisers. We should be able to out maneuver their ships and maybe even their missiles but should we get discovered and flanked we could get boxed in or overwhelmed. It’s a solid plan but I just wish there was a way to draw them out of the system where we could use our Grav Drive and blow their minds with FTL.”

  Saoi raised his hand and Jeff nodded for him to speak. “General, the Collective have been listening on this as the meeting is progressing and we may have a possible solution.” He paused for a second and Jeff indicated for him to continue. “As you know the one that we found on the way to Tau Ceti had discovered how to survive for long periods without a body for nourishment. While a very long period would affect one’s sanity a short period such as a few days or even a week or two would not be an issue. We propose two groups of the Collective proceed from here to the 4th planet. One group will join with the other Collective to teach them about the Basel Confederation and the Phantoms of their mythology. The other larger group will spread out amongst the Basel ships to plant the idea that the Columbia is out here and the Phantoms are waiting to eat their souls. Once the other Collective are taught about the Phantoms they can join us in planting the Phantom story and hopefully drive them off in similar fashion to the Invincible.”

  “General, if we bring the Columbia in system, after the Collective has had time to plant the Phantoms story, on a direct path until we see a reaction from the Basel ships and then run back to interstellar space we might be able to convince them to give chase and follow us out of the Heliosphere. Then we could effectively use the Grav Drives to finish the effect.” Andrew added.

  Jeff looked to Glory for her input. Glory held a finger up to ask for a few seconds during which she reached out to the Collective to listen on their idea and then the ships Tactical Systems for a quick simulation. “General I have listened on this with the Collective and their logic is sound, as always. Also looking back to our encounter with the Invincible they had trouble spotting us at 20 million miles but with the Collective pointing them in the right direction we can increase that distance to keep us well out of missile range. Also the Collective can inform us immediately once they have detected us so that we can stay at maximum range and with fair safety lead them back out of system.”

  Jeff sat back thinking for a minute then looked around the room. “I think we have a workable plan but let’s bring Columbia about halfway to the planet on our normal approach in the clear above the elliptical plane. We’ll hold station there for up to three days to give the Collective time to work. With any luck they may even spot us out there. In fact, we’ll do what we can to draw attention. Any comment?”

  Seeing agreement all around “Then let’s get underway. Department heads report in when at your stations and we’ll see if we can end this standoff.”

  Index

  Chapter 11 - Phantoms

  The Columbia prepared to enter the Delta Pavonis solar system with the hope of getting the Basel Confederation to chase after them where they can implement their Phantom plan against them.

  “All departments report ready, all ships systems are go for launch, Sir.” Glory reported as she reviewed the ships status.

  “Nav, you are go for launch.” Jeff called into his commlink.

  “Positive Gravity Bubble, engaging Ion Drives at .75 C. Approximately 15 hours to halfway point.” Eva narrated as she began moving Columbia in system.

  “Captain Zimmerman, keep a close watch for any surprises that the Basel Confederation may have put in place.” As the ship’s only Tactical Warfare Specialist Jeff had him keeping watch over Columbia’s sensors to hopefully detect any mines or surveillance that might lay in their course.

  “Yes Sir” was his crisp response.

  Jeff leaned over to Glory “Of course I would expect you or the Collective will find anything before he does.”

  “Oh, that sounds like a challenge to me.” She gave him a smile and wink and then continued more seriously “The Collective are listening as one and also with the other Collective and I’ll stay in tight cybernetic focus in case the ship can spot anything.”

  He gave her a tap on the should “Got the best of tech and Psi looking out for us. I like the odds.”

  Columbia proceeded in past the Heliopause lit up like a Christmas tree and broadcasting noise on any likely frequency the Basel Confederation might be using. There is no way they could not see Columbia coming.

  “High Commander! Enemy Vessel detected entering the solar system!” The Tactical Officer of the Victorious reported.

  High Commander sneered at the main plot showing Columbia inside the Heliosphere. “It is fast and big but stupid. Send the Conqueror to eliminate this incompetent intrusion.”

  Columbia has been holding at the halfway point (11 light hours from Pav4) for over five hours waiting on the Basel ships, which has to rely on speed of light sensor systems, to finally be able to spot that they had entered the solar system. The Collective were now almost halfway between Columbia and Pav4.

  “General, we have Basel movement! One of the ships is breaking orbit and headed out to meet us.” Glory reported.

  Jeff looked at the 3d plot now showing one of the red blinking icons designating hostil
e craft moving out of formation. He snuck a quick glance over to Andrew Zimmerman and saw that he had started to open his mouth to announce the same thing but wasn’t quite a match to Glory’s cyber merge. “Glo looks like you won that round. Poor guy never stood a chance.” He said quietly to his second in command. “How long until the Collective meet up with the Basel?

  Glory consulted the ships systems and listened with the Collective and then replied. “Looks like around five to six hours.”

  “I would love to see how they respond to the Phantoms in person but I’ll be content if I just see them leaving the system the way the Invincible did. Not so Invincible then.” Jeff replied.

  “Remember I’ve seen them first hand and a more sadistic nasty bloodthirsty group you’ll never hope to meet. Personally I’d love to have seen their core go critical and vaporize them all but we need to send the Phantom story back home and hopefully convince them to leave these systems alone.” Glory commented while maintaining cyber focus.

  Jeff opened his com “Nav, how long to intercept with the Basel ship?”

  “They are still building speed but if they get up to the .6 C that the Invincible was able to muster then I make intercept in approximately 17.5 hours. I can be more precise once they max out their velocity.” Eva reported.

  “Close enough at this point. Thank You Nav.” Jeff then turned back to the 3d plot. “Glo, I think now that they’ve seen us we can go dark.”

  “Agreed and might just feed the mystic a little too. Amazing how this ship saw their big bad stealthy ship change course from all the way out here.” Glory commented while sending commands to shut down their broadcasts and light display. “And just like that we’re off their screens.”

  “High Commander, the enemy is gone!”