"New coordinates?" he said instead.
"Here you go," Pike said, handing his comlink to the operator at Navigation.
"We're fifteen minutes away from there at half-thrust, Captain," she said after inputting the coordinates from the display.
"Also, I'll need you to transmit a standard Fleet hail on this frequency," Pike said, walking over to the Com station and bringing up another screen on his comlink. Jackson nodded to the ensign manning the station when he looked over for confirmation. The response to the hail was immediate.
"New contact!" Ensign Davis said sharply. "It's ... sitting one hundred meters from our new target coordinates."
"That's my ride," Pike said, returning to the observer's seat. "She's been sitting stealthed for the last four months. Glad the computer brought her to the right place."
"A Broadhead," Jackson said as he looked over the sensor data on his display. "I've never seen one up close. Hell, I thought they might actually just be a rumor."
"A Broadhead?" Celesta spoke up from her station. "What is a Senator's aide doing with a ship like that?"
"Things aren't always what they appear to be, are they?" Pike answered with a wink and a smile that sent Celesta to fuming. The Broadhead was a small ship, five crewmembers at most, that was technologically generations ahead of anything else in Starfleet. Rumor had it that the ship could not only enter an atmosphere but could create a warp transition without having any actual emitters creating the distortion rings. It was something that wasn't expected to appear on Fleet starships for at least another twenty-five years. The ship was a gift from the Tsuyo Corporation to the CIS. They also were rumored to sell them to anyone else with deep enough pockets to operate one. It was a short list.
"Nav, plot a course that will bring up us alongside the new contact and send it over to the helm," Jackson ordered.
"Aye, sir. Course plotted and entered."
"Ahead one-quarter," Jackson said. "We're in no particular hurry. Tell Engineering to begin charging the warp drive capacitor banks."
****
The procedure to dock the massive warship with the comparatively minuscule Broadhead had been absurdly simple. The Blue Jacket had been brought to a full stop a few hundred meters away and, once Pike sent the coded command signal, the Broadhead fired her thrusters and the computer guided the ship in for a flawless soft lock against the Blue Jacket's starboard boarding hatch.
"So where are you off to?" Jackson asked as he, Celesta, and Pike walked up to the still-closed hatch.
"That's highly classified," Pike said with an impish smile. "To be honest, I won't know until the next com drone flies through the system and updates my orders. If I were to take a guess it will be back out to the New European Commonwealth to keep an eye on this group or that."
"Well ... it's been interesting," Jackson said, holding out his hand as the Marine at the hatch keyed in the security code and popped it open.
"You want to take a peek inside her?" Pike suggested, indicating the flexible gangway that led down into the Broadhead. Jackson nearly said no out of habit, but something in Pike's tone gave him pause.
"Maybe a quick look," he agreed after a moment. "Commander Wright, you have the ship." Before she could protest, Pike moved to cut her off and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"It's too bad we can't continue our budding friendship, Commander," he said conspiratorially. "Perhaps we'll bump into each other again." Celesta was so taken aback by his sudden proximity and contact that Jackson was able to walk through the hatch before she could cite some obscure regulation about him leaving the ship without a security detail.
"Blue Jacket, departing," the computer announced the moment he disappeared through the hatch.
"Don't worry, I'm not shanghaiing you, Captain," Pike said as Jackson stepped through the hatch onto the smaller ship.
"You can't shanghai me. I'm already in Starfleet," Jackson said as he looked around. "This would be a simple abduction."
"Ah," Pike said. "I guess I've never really understood that expression."
"So why am I here? Or did you just want to show off your shiny toy?"
"As impressive as she is, no," Pike said. "I wanted to give you this away from prying eyes." He pulled a data card from a slot in the forward console and handed it to Jackson. "That is a set of secondary protocols for the com drone network. A layer underneath the normal com traffic. There are some interesting back channel intel codes on there, but the reason I'm giving it to you is that you'll be able to get in touch with me no matter where I'm at."
"This is highly irregular," Jackson said, turning the card over in his hand. He was vaguely aware of how CIS had built a secure com infrastructure embedded within the normal system. He also knew knowledge of the network was fiercely guarded. "I have a feeling I could be brought up on charges for even taking possession of this thing."
"When did you become so squeamish?" Pike asked. "It's not as if you have to worry about your career at this point, and access to that information could be vital out where you're going."
"You still think there's something that serious going on?" Jackson asked.
"I don't know for certain, but I suspect," Pike said. "The fact Winters was so insistent that the Blue Jacket be sent to gather intel means that CENTCOM is equally suspicious and equally clueless. If they had any firm intel on what was going on they would dispatch someone like me to find out for sure or they would mobilize Black Fleet's two remaining battle groups to deal with it."
"Thanks," Jackson said. "But I still have a hard time believing that the AU is planning something as bold as you seem to think."
"Maybe not. Hopefully not," Pike shrugged. "Anyway, it's time for us to part ways, Captain. It's been ... educational. Safe voyage."
"You as well," Jackson said.
"Blue Jacket, arriving," the computer announced as he walked back through the hatch and nodded for the sentry to close and lock it. As soon as the indicator showed a hard seal there was a soft bump as the Broadhead retracted its flexible gangway.
"Commander, have our first waypoint laid in and ready by the time I get to the bridge," he said, walking off and leaving her still looking like she wanted to say something about him leaving the ship.
He quickly made his way to the lifts and then rushed to his office after stepping out of the last car. Once he locked the hatch he went to the bulkhead behind his desk and keyed open a hidden panel. Behind it was a formidable looking safe door with redundant biometric locks. He pressed his hand against the panel so it could read his prints, heart rate, and calculate his stress levels before it performed a retinal scan and, finally, opened the door with a solid thunk.
Inside was a stack of data cards, an ancient sidearm identical to the one in his desk drawer, and a few file folders with hardcopy documents. He reached under these and pulled out an small, metallic box with an intricate clasp on the front. He quickly stuck the card Pike had given him inside the box and replaced in it the safe. After a quick inventory of the safe's remaining contents he slammed the door shut and waited as it locked itself back up. The small box was a shielded container that would hide the illicit card from even an active scan in the office. While it was true he didn't have a career to worry about anymore, he'd rather not retire just to be put into a CENTCOM detention facility for having the CIS code card.
****
"Course is laid in and ready, Captain," Celesta said as soon as he walked back onto the bridge.
"All ahead full," Jackson ordered as he took his seat. "When we reach transition velocity, secure from standard flight mode and deploy the warp drive."
"Aye, sir, all ahead full," the helmsman said, pushing the throttles all the way up. There was a deep rumble through the ship as the main engines quickly built to full power and the Blue Jacket began to race away from Tau Ceti on her way to the transition point. Jackson leaned back in his seat and silently watched their progress on his own display, ignoring the glances Celesta kept sending his way.
****
"Lieutenant Commander Singh," Celesta greeted the chief engineer as she walked into the room containing reactor one. "Are you busy?"
"No more so than usual, Commander," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"I'd like a word in private, if you wouldn't mind," she said, her voice calm and steady despite how frayed her nerves were. It had been three days since the ship had transitioned to warp and she felt her concerns couldn't wait any longer, but she wanted to make sure she was on solid ground before doing something that would ensure she never rose above the rank of commander.
"My office is one deck up," Singh said, nodding to the ensign beside him to take over at the console he'd been working at. "We're just doing simulation training for the most part. It's too risky to do any real maintenance while the ship is traveling FTL." They walked up the stairs to the next deck and into the chief engineer's office without a word, Singh closing the hatch behind him after he motioned her through.
"So what's the trouble, ma'am?" he asked, sliding down into his chair.
"How long have you known Captain Wolfe?" she began without preamble.
"We've served together for nearly nine years now," he answered uncomfortably. "What's this about?"
"Nothing official," she assured him quickly. "I'm just trying to get a handle on his expectations and his command style. With our rapid departure from Haven I didn't get the break-in period I thought I would during our shakedown."
"You and me both," Singh snorted. "I've got half a dozen new officers and I'm having to pull double watches to make sure they don't do something catastrophic. As to your questions ... from what I can tell you're not doing anything obviously wrong. Between you and me you'd have to try quite hard to be as useless an officer as Commander Stevenson was."
"Is Captain Wolfe always so guarded? Or will he open up eventually?" she asked. "I'm unaccustomed to being so far out of the loop and he shows no inclination to include me in the process."
"You know where he's from, don't you?" Singh asked, seeming suddenly uncomfortable.
"I know he's from Earth," she said. "Somewhere on the North American continent."
"Right," Singh said, looking at her oddly. "You're not aware of the usual stigma applied to people from Earth?"
"I'm from one of the oldest colony worlds in Britannia," she said with a shrug. "I've heard all the tasteless jokes and stereotypes, but I've never thought much of it."
"Well, believe me when I tell you that it's not been a pleasant journey up the ranks for someone born and raised on Earth," Singh said. "Jack has had to fight and claw for everything he's achieved, and even then there are those in CENTCOM just waiting for him to trip so they can be the one to bust him. Surely you've had to notice that even some on this ship's crew have to struggle to hide their disdain."
"I had no idea it was actually that bad," she said. "How can this be allowed to go on so overtly?"
"Officially it's not," Singh said with a humorless laugh. "But since when has a regulation or law stood in the way of human prejudice? If he were to report it, all it would accomplish is to make him a target. So he formed a tough outer shell and is slow to trust those around him."
"It sounds rather lonely," she said, thinking back to her conversations with Admiral Winters prior to taking the post on the Blue Jacket. Daya Singh was unknowingly filling in a lot of context that had escaped her during the initial interviews.
"That sums up the man's life as well as anything else I've heard," Singh said sadly. "Commander, while I appreciate what appears to be a genuine attempt to understand the captain in order to be a more effective XO ... I would appreciate a certain amount of discretion with the information I've given you. He is an intensely private man."
"Of course, Lieutenant Commander Singh," Celesta said, standing up. "I would hope that discretion is reciprocated as I doubt he would appreciate what would undoubtedly be seen as an intrusion."
"He'll never even know you were down here," Singh said, also rising.
"Thank you, Mr. Singh"
"My pleasure, ma'am."
Celesta had walked down with the intention of confronting Singh about Wolfe's disregard for procedure and to ask about what she suspected was a drinking problem severe enough that he'd been borderline unfit for duty on one occasion. However, after initiating the conversation and getting a glimpse at what made Captain Wolfe tick, she'd lost her nerve. She resolved to keep him under close observation, but she didn't feel justified in approaching him just yet.
Chapter 7
The Blue Jacket shuddered violently as she transitioned back into real space, much harsher than was normal. Jackson ignored the clatter of coffee mugs on the deck and half-stifled curses from his bridge crew.
"Engineering," he said, pressing the intercom key on his armrest. "What happened?"
"We're investigating now, Captain," Daya Singh's voice came back. "There are no damage reports coming in so I'm clearing the ship for normal flight. I'll get back to you when I know something."
"Quickly, Lieutenant Commander," Jackson said before closing the intercom channel. "OPS, have all departments check in with non-critical damage or injuries."
"Shall I retract the warp drive emitters, sir?" Ensign Davis asked even as she sent out the query to all the department heads.
"Negative, Ensign," Jackson said. "Let's give the chief engineer a bit before we start changing the drive configuration."
It was two hours of drifting in space near the edge of the Xi'an system, a frontier colony of the Asianic Union, when the com officer finally spoke up. "Captain, I'm getting no transmissions from Xi'an, the com node platform, or any ship traffic."
"So the entire com array is down?" Jackson asked in disbelief.
"All my internal diagnostics are showing a green array," the officer said. "I can perform loop back checks all the way out to the antennas." Jackson climbed out of his seat and walked over to the com station. The officer was a lieutenant J.G. (Junior Grade) that Jackson recognized as the com officer for second watch.
"Show me your diagnostic data, Lieutenant Keller," Jackson said. Keller wordlessly pulled up the logs of the extensive testing he'd been doing since he first suspected that his equipment was malfunctioning. Jackson had to admit that the young officer had been very thorough and logical in his approach. "Good work trying to isolate the problem," he told Keller. "But when there's a systemwide failure like this make sure you at least alert me before you start troubleshooting. Go ahead and pass this down to your section and have them begin inspecting the com array. I refuse to believe we lost all radios, all bands simultaneously."
"Aye, sir."
"Com array failure and an inter-warp nagivation malfunction?" Celesta asked once Jackson had sat down again.
"An unlikely and unfortunate scenario," Jackson agreed. His terminal chirped for his attention before he could continue his thought. He read the message from Daya Singh and breathed a sigh of relief. The warp drive had a minor variance between the fore and aft distortion rings that Engineering had managed to isolate and correct. Minor variances were rough; major variances would tear the ship in half. "OPS, retract and stow the warp drive emitters and start the mains. Engineering has fully cleared the ship for normal flight. Tactical ... Tactical!"
"Yes, Captain," a surprised tactical officer, used to having nothing to do on the ship, sat up and nearly fell out of his chair as he tried to turn and face the command dais.
"You don't need to turn around, son, but you do need to listen to what's happening around you," Jackson admonished him. "While OPS is busy reconfiguring the ship I want you to begin active scans of the system and surrounding space. Just use the navigation array for now."
"Aye, sir," the tactical officer said, tentativ
ely manipulating his displays to bring up the appropriate control menu, having to backtrack more than once. Jackson looked at Celesta, who nodded and walked over behind the struggling officer.
"Captain, com section reports no faults detected within the individual systems," Lieutenant Keller reported. "They even went so far as to use each radio to talk to one of the shuttles. All receive and transmit functions appear to be intact."
"Interesting," Jackson said. "Nav, we are at Xi'an, are we not?"
"Yes, sir," the spacer at Navigation said instantly. "I took three star shots when we transitioned in and confirmed our position. We're just within the orbit of the ninth planet of the Xi'an system, twenty-eight kilometers from our target jump-in point."
"Very well," Jackson said loudly. "We appear to have a bit of a mystery on our hands. Until Tactical verifies what we have around us we will maintain our position and continue monitoring coms. Lieutenant Keller, please initiate a standard Fleet hail and loop it." He looked over and saw that Celesta was animatedly informing his tactical officer that his underwhelming performance and lack of attentiveness was not appreciated.
Eventually, the returns from the long-range radar scans began to come in and the main display began to populate with objects and identifiers. The data that was being displayed, however, only confused them even more.
"None of this looks right according to our records," Celesta was saying, consulting the scan logs of the last Black Fleet ship to fly through the system. "There's a lot of localized debris, but we can't resolve any of the known constructs or satellites. There appears to be zero ship traffic in orbit over Xi'an as well."
"We know that's not possible," Jackson said. "Do we have another system acting up or are these returns legitimate?"
"They appear to be genuine, Captain," she said.
"Bring the high-res tactical array online," Jackson ordered. "I want the clearest possible picture before we move the ship." The high-res array was a system of high-power radar, lidar, and optical imagers that wasn't used during normal operations. The radar was so powerful it could interfere with other ships so the Blue Jacket would normally fly with the comparatively low-power navigation radar.
Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship Page 7