HADRON Chaos

by Stephen Arseneault

  Jenny laughed. “No, we just thought it would be nice for a change. And given the fact we may be invaded in the coming days… I guess there is that.”

  Fatso Geerok walked into the room. “Mmm, the smell of Human cooking … delightful. I should like to give up the nutrient bars for more of this.”

  Jenny replied, “Well, enjoy it while you can. If the Karthians show we won’t be having meals like this.”

  Fatso turned to Mace. “The holo-image surrounding this compound is impressive. I couldn’t detect a transition when I walked through it. The buildings suddenly appearing was eye-opening, but a few steps back and they were again gone.”

  Mace said, “Yeah, you can only hide so much. Would be nice if we could hide the individual buildings better, but we’ll need to walk between them, so we have to blanket the whole area.”

  Geerok said, “Why not add a holo-projector for each building as well?”

  “You can do that?”

  Geerok shrugged. “Why not? It’s only a holo-projection. Technically, you could nest as many of those as you want.”

  Mace patted the former Mawga admiral on the back. “I want. Let’s go see if we can get that done.”

  Geerok replied, “I believe the main projector was set up by two of Mr. Montak’s men. They should be able to direct us as to what will be required.”

  Chapter 24

  *

  After a long meal with all the trimmings, the dreaded comm came in from Jasper. “They’re on the move. Looks like Croawla. I’m moving up half the orbital stations from Divinia.”

  Mace replied, “We’ll be there as soon as I get everyone back aboard the Rogers. And I know I’ve neglected to ask this, but how are our gatrellium stockpiles?”

  Jasper slowly shook his head. “Getting low. Another thirty Collins ships and we’ll have to stop production. We have enough to fight and move where we need to, but it’s a finite amount. I’m in the process of having the storage at Croawla moved to Divinia. Last thing I want is to be giving it over to those fishheads. The way they use that stuff, they must have a huge stockpile of it.”

  Mace said, “We lost a lot of Collins ships. You don’t think they’re somehow recycling the skins on those, do you?”

  Jasper shrugged. “Couldn’t say. I know they’ve carted parts of them away. I do have scout ships in the systems they took. Let me ask my people.”

  Jasper came back from a short conversation. “It seems they have ships out there harvesting debris from these battles. Could be they’re mining those debris fields for gatrellium.”

  “Sounds like we might have a few easy targets to pick off.”

  Jasper grinned, “Or capture. Might be a good source of gatrellium for us.”

  Mace nodded. “See if you can find one that’s been out the longest. Send us the coordinates and we’ll go aboard and check it out before heading your way.”

  “Will have that for you in a few minutes. And if the Karthian move is like previous moves, we should have a couple hours before they attack. They haven’t opened any wormholes yet.”

  The crew of the Rogers was back aboard. A jump to Antho, a former colony of the Dunden Heap, had a debris collector ship in sight. Before it could flee, Hans Mueller disabled its drives. Johnny, Jane, and Jenny then attached a shuttle and cut through the hull. Resistance was light as only two of the crew of twenty were armed.

  Johnny stood over the Karthian captain on the bridge. “I hope you plan to cooperate.”

  The captain replied, “Please spare us. We are only following orders.”

  Jane stepped on his three-fingered hand, bringing about a yelp. “You tell us what we want to know and we might even let you go.”

  The captain nodded. “Whatever you want.”

  Johnny said, “You’re gathering debris for recycling?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you separate the materials here?”

  “Yes.”

  Is the ultra-heavy element we call gatrellium one of the items you separate and gather?”

  The captain was quiet. Added pressure from Jane on his hand brought “Yes” for an answer.

  Johnny reached down, pulling the Karthian up to his feet. “Show me where the gatrellium is.”

  A long walk had the two standing at the end of a processing line. “The finely-ground ores exit here. This vat is used to precipitate certain metals, including gatrellium. Over here, they are further separated according to the desired end-product. And over here we have the storage area. The blue tank is refined gatrellium.”

  Johnny walked over. “This is our unit of measure. Can you do a quick conversion to how much this tank holds?”

  The captain entered the data. “We currently have forty-six hundred kilograms.”

  “What’s that tank hold?”

  “The equivalent of almost twelve thousand kilograms.”

  “How long did it take you to gather that amount?”

  “We arrived from a delivery three days ago. This is our third and final sweep of this star system.”

  “Did you deliver full loads on the two prior runs?”

  The captain pulled up the data. “The equivalent of eighty-nine hundred kilograms, followed by seventy-seven hundred. I expect this run, which ends in five days, to yield six thousand kilograms.”

  Johnny asked, “Have you harvested similar numbers from other battle sites?”

  The captain nodded.

  Johnny opened a comm. “We need to hit these salvage ships and hit them hard. They’re gathering tons of gatrellium from the destroyed ships. Next time we board we need to check their cruisers for gatrellium stores. We might be passing up gold mines of this stuff with each raid.”

  “Excellent news. Now the question is, how do we take possession of it?”

  “You bring us a cargo hauler and we can dump directly into it. And hey, this captain has been fully cooperative, I think we should let him go—after we take his gatrellium stock that is.”

  Mace arranged for a cargo hauler to come from Divinia. The recovered gatrellium was then sent to the Alpha Centauri site for storage. Six additional debris harvesters were captured and their gatrellium contents confiscated. As Johnny boarded the seventh, Jasper gave the call.

  “We have wormholes opening at Croawla.”

  Mace said, “Johnny, pump that cargo as quickly as you can. The Karthians are moving on Croawla.”

  Johnny nodded. “Will do. And hey, I just had a thought. These ships, when they’re full, they go somewhere to deposit these ores. What if we did a raid there instead? What if we were able to clean out a huge stockpile rather than these small loads?”

  Mace replied, “Let me consult. Continue with your mission.”

  Mace opened a comm to Jasper. “Johnny had a thought.”

  Jasper shook his head. “Not possible. Apes don’t have thoughts.”

  Mace replied, “Yeah, well, he had the idea of following or finding out where these harvester ships take this stuff. With the right ships, we might be able to hit a stockyard or supply depot loaded with gatrellium. If it’s of sufficient size, it might even slow their attacks out here.”

  Jasper rubbed his chin. “Might not be a bad idea. We might have a moment’s respite anyway. The Karthians only sent through three ships. No doubt scouts. We chased them off. If they do come through in force, you’ll have an hour or so to get back. They like to get everyone through and take up formations before attacking.”

  “You think you could spare twenty Collins ships and a maybe three dozen cargo haulers?”

  Jasper nodded. “Just tell me where you want them.”

  Mace smiled. “Give us a few minutes. Johnny needs to track that info down.”

  After investigating a debris harvester’s nav logs, arrangements were made to jump directly to a Karthian ore depot. Twenty Collins class cruisers, along with thirty ore haulers, followed the Rogers through to the coordinates that had been provided.

  Humphrey was the first to speak: “We have five Karthian
cruisers heading this way, Mr. Hardy.”

  Mace nodded. “The Targarians will be taking care of those. Move us in to that transfer station. We’re going aboard.”

  Mace stood. “Johnny, this time I’m coming with you. Mr. Crawford, I’m leaving you in charge.”

  A shuttle, piloted by Jenny Taub, pulled out of bay one. Less than a minute later it was settling on the deck in the docking bay of the transfer station. Two laser pulses impacted the side of the shuttle as the ramp lowered and Johnny ran down with counter fire. The two low level security guards on duty quickly gave up. The deck and control center were secured, and the crewmen locked away, before the four began working over the control room computer systems.

  Johnny said, “We have twenty-six ore bays with material stockpiles. I have iron, cobalt, magnesium, copper, silver, and… here we go… gatrellium, gold, diamond, emerald, uranium… and a slew of others. I think we hit the jackpot.”

  “Send the gatrellium coordinates to the haulers. Have them start loading immediately. Not sure how long we’re gonna have before a storm of Karthian ships come down on us. How much gatrellium are we talking?”

  Johnny paused and looked up. “Nineteen thousand tons. No wonder they’re being so wasteful. That’s more than we’ve ever had at any one time. And when I say we, I mean the Targarians.”

  Mace typed away on his arm pad. “Crap, those haulers can only handle about a third of that.”

  Mace opened a comm to the Rogers. “Mr. Geerok, patch me through directly to Jasper at Divinia.”

  “Connecting.”

  An image of Jasper floated above Mace’s arm. “We hit the mother lode. I need more ore haulers.”

  Jasper shook his head. “That’s all we have. The rest have been converted to transports to move my people. You’ll have to make do. If you can’t bring it back, then do your best to scatter it.”

  Mace winced. “OK, we’ll deal with it.”

  The comm closed.

  “Johnny, coordinate with the hauler captains, I want them to drop their loads at the Alpha site and come back immediately. And when I say drop, I mean dump ‘em and run. We need them back here for a second run.”

  Jane said, “Ah, I think we have another problem. This is one of four depot sites. I’m showing seventy-eight thousand tons across the other three locations.”

  “Wow,” said Jenny. “They must have some impressive mines somewhere.”

  Mace pulled up an image of the massive transfer station and its bays. “The gatrellium bay is the second to last on this arm that runs out this way. What if we hit that spine right here, grapple those last couple bays, and fly them into that star. I’d say that makes it unrecoverable.”

  Mace turned to the others. “Back to the shuttle, now.”

  Jane said, “I pushed the locations of those other depots back to the Rogers.”

  Mace talked as they ran to the shuttle. “Here’s what I think we do. When the Targarians are finished with those cruisers, they jump to the next depot and secure it. The haulers, once they dump at Alpha, can continue to that next site. We’re gonna grab that bay and push it into that sun.”

  Johnny ran up the ramp. “That’s an awful waste.”

  “I’m not willing to risk having them get it back.”

  A Targarian commander came over the comm. “Mr. Hardy, the last of the ore haulers is away.”

  Mace asked, “And the Karthian ships?”

  The commander smiled. “Dispatched in the first ninety seconds of our engagement. Those were not front-line ships or crews.”

  Mace nodded. “Excellent. Make your jump to the second depot and secure it. Those haulers should be showing up right after you get there.”

  The commander nodded as the comm closed.

  Hans Mueller fired three bursts at the spine connecting the gatrellium bay to the rest of the transfer station. The structure split and the separated bays floated freely. Liam Hobbs maneuvered the Rogers, and the grappling clamps were attached. A slow initial push was followed by a rapid acceleration.

  Liam said, “Three minutes and we should be able to release her, Mr. Hardy. No one will be pulling it back from that point.”

  Humphrey turned. “That will take us remarkably close, will it not?”

  Liam nodded. “It will, but as I said, they won’t be bringing it back.”

  A comm came in from the Targarians: “Four cruisers at the second depot, Mr. Hardy. The first of the ore haulers have arrived.”

  Mace replied, “Keep us posted, Commander. After that, move on to depot three.”

  Humphrey yelled, “Wormholes opening! I show at least forty! Karthian cruisers coming through!”

  “Where?”

  The hull of the Rogers rumbled as the first of the Karthian laser rounds found its mark.

  Humphrey glanced over his shoulder. “They’re right on us, Mr. Hardy. I recommend we release and jump while we have room.”

  Mace looked at Liam. “Mr. Hobbs, how long until we reach the point of no return?”

  “Another minute at least. They would still have a chance, but not an easy one.”

  “Take us there. I’ll make the call from that point.”

  The hull again rumbled, followed by a violent jerk. “Double hit, Mr. Hardy. We can’t maneuver carrying this big mass.”

  “Mr. Mueller, tell me you’re hitting them back.”

  Hans replied, “With all we have. They’re jinking where we cannot. My shot aren’t hitting their targets.”

  “Time, Mr. Hobbs?”

  “Thirty seconds!”

  The Rogers bucked and shuddered.

  Humphrey said, “That cost us one of our aft transducers!”

  “Twenty seconds!”

  Mace said, “Mr. Hobbs! Release the clamps! But stay with this structure! Use it as a shield! Mr. Mueller, kill anything that tries to get close to us!”

  The metallic clangs could be heard as the grappling clamps retracted into the Rogers, freeing them from the bay structure it was holding. A closing cruiser moved into the direct fire of Hans Mueller’s cannons and paid the price, falling back behind the others.

  “Five seconds!”

  Mace started counting down from ten as the Karthians attempted to outflank the Rogers’ protected position.

  After reaching a count of one, Mace yelled, “Mr. Hobbs, Break away!”

  “We’re gonna take some heat, Mr. Hardy! And I’m not talking about from those cannons! There’s a massive solar flare coming up toward us. I thought if we could direct that structure into it, we’d save some time.”

  “Tell me the real problem, Mr. Hobbs!”

  Liam looked back. “It’s a lot hotter out there than I thought. And we can’t go back without that swarm being all over us.”

  Mace stared at the image of the approaching flare. “Tell me your plan, Mr. Hobbs!”

  Liam replied, “We have to fly under that plasma, Mr. Hardy, and I can’t say for sure that we’ll be coming back from it. But it’s the only way to shake those ships. The mass of that sun is preventing us from making a jump!”

  Mace gripped his armrests as a new set of laser blasts pounded the Rogers’ hull. “Do what you must, Mr. Hobbs!”

  Humphrey said, “Another transducer gone! We have a weak aft shield, Mr. Hardy!”

  Liam Hobbs maneuvered the Rogers to the port side of the approaching massive flare.

  Humphrey yelled, “Hull temps are spiking!”

  Liam grunted. “Come on, missy! I know you have it in you! You have yet to let us down!”

  The Rogers turned, rolling up under the outstretched arm of the flare. Two of the thirty-nine remaining Karthian cruisers in pursuit began to glow before their dampening fields failed, turning the ships into fireballs that continued to race toward the sun.

  Mace said, “Gonna get hot in here! Close your visors!”

  The inner hull temperature rose as Liam Hobbs did his best to steer around streams of plasma that moved about under the main flare. The hull of the Rogers
rocked, laser strikes impacting her dampening field.

  Humphrey yelled, “A port transducer just quit on us! Outer hull showing six hundred twelve degrees! Inside air is at one-twenty!”

  Liam yelled back, “Thirty seconds! Come on, you Kaachi bucket of bolts! Hang in there!”

  Three of the pursuing Karthian ships burst into fireballs, falling back and taking out another four that were following too close behind.

  “Ten seconds!” yelled Liam.

  Mace continued to grip his armrests, gritting his teeth.

  Liam Hobbs yelled, “We’re out! Fifty seconds to a wormhole!”

  The Rogers continued to jink from side to side. Each maneuver allowed the Karthian ships to move ever closer. A violent jerk twisted Mace in his chair, slamming him against an armrest, ripping the leather covering from his hand. A heavy rumble reverberated through the ship.

  Humphrey yelled, “Two starboard transducers gone! Hull is reaching critical temperature in that section!”

  Liam said, “Twenty seconds!”

  Three Karthian cruisers broke apart, shredding into numerous fireballs before flaming out of existence. The remaining ships turned to avoid the debris.

  “Wormhole is opening!”

  A second later the Rogers was through, slowing to a modest speed as the hull began to cool.

  “Damage report, Mr. Mallot.”

  Humphrey replied, “We lost five transducers. And there was a fire in bay three. Extinguished before it caused trouble.”

  A comm was opened: “Commander? How goes the transfer?”

  The Targarian replied, “No sign of Karthians ships, Mr. Hardy. I have the ore haulers coming for a second run. This depot will be empty in three minutes.”

  “You detect wormholes, you have those haulers break away immediately, and you follow. We’re moving ahead to the third depot to scout.”

  The comm closed. “Mr. Hobbs, take us to the third depot on that list.”

  Liam said, “Mr. Hardy, we can’t fight in this condition. We need to get back to the repair docks.”

  Mace replied, “We aren’t fighting. We’ll have a look and pass that info back to the commander. I want to do the same for that fourth depot as well. After that, take us in for repairs.”