“There are a damn lot of small hatches,” muttered Lieutenant Stehr, gesturing out the cockpit window near him. “They could be missile hatches just like the ones on the Distant Horizon.”
Lacey agreed. Some of the hatches were round, just like the missile tubes on the exploration dreadnought. Others were more rectangular and of various sizes. There were also what appeared to be small round viewports spaced evenly along the hull. All were dark with no sign of lights.
Reaching the bow, Lacey maneuvered the shuttle to a stop and focused her attention on the front of the ship. On the Distant Horizon, her most powerful weapons were on the bow. On this ship, there were several larger round turrets sunk partially into the hull, but nothing else other than what appeared to be antennae and communication dishes.
“Still nothing,” she reported over the comm. “We’re going to go down the other side and then take a good look at the stern where the subspace engines should be.”
-
Kathryn stared at the viewscreen and the close up view they were receiving of the Originator ship. “Any speculation as to what those turrets are?”
“Energy weapons,” said Shilum, looking at the admiral. “Probably very powerful. The entire turret probably acts as a type of energy projector.”
“Shilum’s correct,” confirmed Andram. “We have considered these types of weapons ourselves, but the science to build such is still years in front of us. I would estimate each one of those projectors can produce the same amount of energy as one of the spires on a Simulin battlecruiser if not more.”
“The larger ones on the bow?” asked Kathryn, realizing just how defenseless the Distant Horizon would be if attacked by the Originator ship.
“They would cut through our shield as if wasn’t even there,” Andram answered simply.
Colonel Leon frowned and said. “Why is it here? Did something kill the crew?”
“Unknown,” answered Andram. “There’s no obvious damage to the ship. The only answer I can come up with is that the vessel suffered some type of catastrophic damage on the inside which incapacitated it.”
“Coming up on the stern,” Captain Sander’s voice came over the comm, which was being projected over speakers in the Command Center.
Kathryn turned her attention back to the screen as the ship’s stern came into view. It was instantly obvious that the type of subspace propulsion the Originator ship used was far different from what the Distant Horizon possessed. On the stern of the vessel were sixteen twenty-meter globes placed in a large circle, with a one-hundred-meter globe in the center. All were set partially into the hull of the ship.
“Some type of energy projection drive,” suggested Shilum as she peered intently at the screen. “A drive of that type could conceivably push a ship to almost the speed of light.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Kathryn knew they had to get inside that vessel. The technology in front of them could ensure the safety of Gaia and perhaps someday lead them back home.
“Have the shuttle pull back to ten kilometers,” she ordered. “Clarissa, you may attempt to contact the ship.”
“Sending first contact messages now,” Clarissa replied as she blinked her eyes as if in concentration. Then after a moment, Clarissa frowned. “Sending first contact messages in computer code.”
“Computer code?” asked Colonel Leon.
“Ones and zeroes,” explained Katie. “It’s the simplest code to communicate between one computer and another.”
“Captain Sanders, do you see any signs of a response on that ship?” asked Kathryn.
“No, Admiral, nothing,” Sanders replied. There was a sudden loud burst of static.
“Captain?”
A few moments passed and Captain Travers called out. “Admiral, we’ve lost all communication with the shuttle. There’s some type of interference coming from the Originator ship.”
“They’re losing their power,” shouted Captain Reynolds as a high-pitched noise struck the Command Center and the lights flickered.
“Activate the shield!” ordered Kathryn, fearing the ship was under attack.
“No!” said Clarissa, her eyes focusing sharply on the admiral. “The AI may think you’re attacking the ship.”
“Clarissa! Do you have contact with the Originator ship’s AI?” demanded Katie, standing up and coming over to Clarissa’s side and peering sharply at the AI.
“Tentatively,” Clarissa replied, her face taking on a look of intense concentration. “It’s very weak and confused.”
“Admiral, our sensors are indicating the shuttle is without power,” confirmed Captain Reynolds.
“That means they have no life support,” Commander Grissim said grimly. Anne looked at Clarissa, wanting an explanation.
“They can survive for a few hours with the air in the shuttle,” Andram said with an inquisitive look on his face. “It’s evident there is power on that vessel.”
Katie looked worriedly at Clarissa. She had never seen such a troubled look on the AI’s face before. “Do you understand what it’s saying?”
“Still working on it,” Clarissa answered. “We have a very limited database on the Originator language. “We’re communicating by computer code and the ship’s AI is having trouble comprehending what I’m saying.”
Mikow ran her hands over her computer screen tapping on a number of icons. “There may be some disruptions in the AI’s core programming from such a long period of dormancy. Clarissa, I have a program that might help to form links and skip over the missing data if the AI will accept it.”
“Sending it now,” Clarissa replied.
Alarms suddenly began sounding from the sensor console. “Admiral, I have Simulin warships inbound,” warned Captain Reynolds as red threat icons began appearing in one of the tactical displays. “Eighty ships detected, range is eight light-years. They’re on a direct course for this system. At their current speed, they’ll be here in twenty-eight minutes.”
“Andram, will our antimatter missiles destroy that ship?”
Andram looked in alarm at the admiral. “We can’t destroy the Originator ship; just think of what we can learn from it!”
“We can’t learn anything if the Simulins take it from us,” answered Kathryn grimly. “Can our antimatter missiles destroy that vessel?” She wanted an answer from the Alton scientist.
“If we fire repeatedly at one section of the hull, I believe we can eventually penetrate the ship’s armor. Once that’s been done, one missile should be able to destroy the interior.”
Kathryn turned around to face Tactical. “Major Weir, prepare a full spread of antimatter missiles to be fired on the Originator ship at my signal.”
“I have better communication with the ship’s AI,” Clarissa said. “It has limited power and has agreed to release the shuttle from the energy-draining field it initiated. It has been using the power it was draining from the shuttle to power up a few emergency systems. I have also explained to it the danger posed by the incoming Simulins.”
“Admiral Barnes, this is Captain Sanders, we have power once again. What are your orders? We’re seeing what appear to be a few lights in one section of the Originator ship.”
“Return to the Distant Horizon,” Kathryn ordered. The appearance of the Simulins had changed everything. “We have Simulin warships inbound. Clarissa, what is the AI saying?”
“It has very limited resources. The AI is suggesting we destroy the ship to prevent the Simulins from taking it.”
“Admiral, I have Admiral Bachal on the comm,” reported Captain Travers. “He’s volunteering to use the tractor beams on the Starlight and the Nova to drag the Originator ship into hyperspace.”
Kathryn shifted her gaze toward Andram. “Can he do that?” She knew the Alton battleships had each brought one-half of a Conqueror Class battlestation through hyperspace with them when the relief fleets had arrived at Gaia.
“Yes,” Andram answered as he ran some quick calculations on his science station. “However, the mass
of the Originator ship will restrict their speed in hyperspace to one half normal.”
Kathryn bit her lip as she furiously thought over what to do. If there was any way to save that ship out there, she needed to. “Clarissa, will the Originator ship’s AI allow us to use tractor beams to drag it into hyperspace and back to Gaia?”
“Explain that we won’t harm it,” Katie said, stepping a little closer to Clarissa. “Make sure it understands we only want to help it.”
A few precious minutes passed as Clarissa spoke to the other ship’s AI. A tremendous amount of data was now being shared as Clarissa tried to explain that they wanted to take the Originator ship to a place of safety.
Clarissa’s deep blue eyes suddenly seemed to brighten and then she turned toward the admiral. “The AI has agreed, but only if we supply it with sufficient power to activate more of its systems when we get to Gaia. It has also informed me that there is no way we can gain admittance to the ship without its help.”
“Tell the AI we’ll do it,” Kathryn said. “Captain Travers, inform Admiral Bachal we need his battleships here pronto.”
Travers informed the Alton admiral of Kathryn’s orders. The admiral had remained on the comm line waiting to see if his offer of using his two Alton battleships’ tractor beams would be accepted.
“Shuttle is back on board,” reported Colonel Leon.
“The AI has agreed,” Clarissa replied. “It’s waiting for the Alton battleships to latch on with their tractor beams.”
Kathryn breathed a sigh of relief. “Commander Grissim, pull the Distant Horizon out of this asteroid field. We’re going to have to fight off those Simulins until the Altons can drag the Originator ship out into open space where they can open a spatial vortex and jump into hyperspace.” There were just too many small asteroids in the vicinity of the Originator ship to risk opening one up in the asteroid field. If one were to be sucked into the vortex, the ships could be thrown horribly off course.
-
It took a few minutes, but the Distant Horizon cleared the asteroid field as the Alton battleships Starlight and Nova moved in to use their tractor beams in an attempt to save the Originator ship.
“TAD is reporting that all AI warspheres are at Condition One and ready to engage the Simulins,” Captain Reynolds informed the admiral. TAD was short for T24-A46-D47, which was the official designation for the AI in charge of the warspheres.
“The battleships’ Pallas and Deneb have formed up on our flanks and the battlecarrier Ardent has moved to our rear,” reported Commander Grissim as she activated her ship-to-ship comm. “Commander Jackson wants to know if she should have her Anlon bombers ready to launch.”
“No bomber or fighter launch,” responded Kathryn, shaking her head. “We won’t be staying long enough for them to come into play. As a matter of fact, order Commander Jackson to bring her CAP in. I don’t want to be waiting for fighters to land when it’s time for us to go.”
“The fleet’s currently in defensive pattern D-4,” added Grissim. This was a formation with the AI warspheres forming a solid wall in front of the Distant Horizon and the other three human manned ships.
“We’ll wait until the Simulins emerge before adjusting our formation,” Kathryn said as she leaned back in her command chair and fastened her safety harness. “I want all of the Defense Globes ready to deploy.”
“Eight minutes until Simulin emergence,” reported Captain Reynolds.
Kathryn took in a deep breath. She shifted her eyes to one of the tactical displays, which showed the two Alton battleships taking up positions on each side of the Originator ship. In the time it would take them to exit the asteroid field and jump into hyperspace, the battle with the inbound Simulin fleet would be well underway.
-
High Commander Zarth Lantu watched the tactical screen as his fleet neared the ships from the Fitula Nebula. This fleet had been a nuisance from the very beginning and he intended to destroy it this time. He had been at a nearby Ornellian colony world landing Conqueror Drones when he received the reports of the enemy fleet returning. He had quickly gathered eighty of his battlecruisers and set out in pursuit.
“Why are they in that star system?” asked Second Commander Darst. “There are no records of it being of any value, and it does not contain any Ornellian installations. The system was scanned very recently to confirm that.”
“I don’t know,” Lantu replied evenly. His cold and inhuman eyes shifted over to his second in command. “When we exit hyperspace, I want every weapon we have firing upon that fleet. We will use our energy beams and antimatter missiles to overwhelm their shields.”
“The order will be given,” Darst said. “There can be none but Simulin.”
“None but Simulin,” replied Lantu with a confirming nod of his head.
-
Kathryn waited tensely as the counter for emergence of the Simulin fleet neared zero. Clarissa had calculated they were going to emerge at extreme weapons range.
“All ships are combat ready,” reported Commander Grissim. “Energy shields are up and weapons are charged.”
“Release the Defense Globes,” ordered Kathryn. “Then move the Distant Horizon, the Pallas, and the Deneb into the AI wall and prepare for combat. The Ardent is to stay in the rear unless ordered otherwise.
Colonel Leon quickly passed the order to the flight bay. “Defense Globes launching in thirty seconds.”
“Have them hold in the warspheres’ defensive wall; once the Simulins begin to move toward us we’ll send them in.”
“Emergence,” called out Captain Reynolds. On the large viewscreen, swirling spatial vortexes began to form and from each a 1,700-meter battlecruiser emerged.
-
As soon as the Simulin battlecruisers emerged, the AI warspheres opened fire. Particle beam weapons and one hundred-megaton missiles struck the Simulin formation just as their shields were coming up. Ion beams and particle beam fire slammed into six battlecruisers setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. Seconds later, antimatter missiles crashed into the beleaguered hulls turning the interiors of the stricken Simulin vessels into miniature suns. In less than eight seconds six Simulin battlecruisers died.
The Simulins reeled from the sudden attack. They hadn’t expected the enemy fleet’s weapons to have such range. Nevertheless, the Simulins turned to the attack. Bright white energy beams flashed out toward the wall of AI warspheres. Hundreds of antimatter missiles were launched simultaneously in an attempt to bring down the shields of the enemy ships.
In the AI defensive wall energy shields strained to withstand the heavy onslaught being directed at them. Several shields weakened and then collapsed. Warspheres WS-010 and WS-014 vanished in titanic explosions as their shields collapsed, allowing Simulin antimatter missiles to impact their hulls.
-
“Warspheres WS-010 and WS-014 are down,” reported Captain Reynolds as the green icons representing the one-thousand-meter ships swelled up and vanished from his sensor screen.
“Defense globes have been committed,” reported Commander Grissim as the small ten-meter globes suddenly accelerated forward on their sublight drives. “Defense globes are engaging.”
-
The Defense Globes entered their primary effective combat range and fired their ion cannons at the oncoming Simulin fleet. At the same time, the AI warspheres and the human vessels launched a massive antimatter strike trying to take advantage of the small holes in the Simulins’ screens the ion beams would cause. Across the incoming Simulin formation, brilliant flashes of light appeared as most of the antimatter missiles struck energy screens. However, four missiles darted through the small holes created by the ion beams and four Simulin battlecruisers vanished in massive fireballs of released energy.
-
High Commander Zarth Lantu snarled in anger seeing four more of his battlecruisers vanish from the tactical screen. “Destroy those small globes that are creating holes in our shields
!”
“The battle computer confirms the use of concentrated ion beams to tear gaps in our screens,” reported Second Commander Darst. “The gaps are small but still large enough to allow missiles to penetrate and strike our ships. Ion beams are being projected from the small globes as well as the AI ships.”
On one of the ship’s viewscreens, a small ten-meter globe appeared. A single cannon suddenly fired an ion beam toward a Simulin battlecruiser.
“Use our defensive batteries to take those spheres out!”
“Order has been sent,” replied Darst.
-
“They’re firing upon the Defense Globes,” reported Captain Reynolds as nearly a dozen of them suddenly vanished from his sensor screen.
“The Starlight and the Nova have just about cleared the asteroid field,” added Commander Grissim as the large viewscreen suddenly shifted to show the three ships. The two Alton ships had somehow anchored themselves to the hull of the Originator ship and were using their subspace drives to move the vessel.
Kathryn felt the Distant Horizon shake violently and several red lights appeared on the damage control console. She looked over at Colonel Leon inquiringly.
“Only slight damage to the hull in sector seventeen,” she reported. “All compartments are still airtight.”
“Firing ion beam,” said Major Weir. The Distant Horizon had the largest ion beam and it could easily create a hole in a Simulin screen.
“Firing antimatter missile,” added Clarissa as she used her abilities to guide the sublight missile through the small hole the ion beam had created in a Simulin battlecruiser’s energy screen.”
“Target is down,” confirmed Captain Reynolds.
-
“What is that?” Darst uttered in shock. Upon the ship’s main viewscreen, a monstrous ship was emerging from the system’s asteroid field. Two other ships were anchored to it using their sublight drives to move the ship away from the asteroids.
High Commander Lantu gazed at the apparition on the screen in disbelief. For the first time in his long career, he felt actual fear. “Run that ship against the database in the battle computer and see if it can identify it.” Lantu had a strong feeling it would not be able to.
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion's Light: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 17