by Jay Allan
Holm took his cue from Garret. “I’d like to hear from Dr. Hofstader and Colonel Sparks now.” He glanced at Garret briefly then at the two scientists. “I think it would help us all to be up to speed on the technology aspects of this fight.” His eyes fixed on the German physicist. “Dr. Hofstader, would you be kind enough to bring us up to date on your research?”
Hofstader took a deep breath and slid his chair back. He stood up and looked around the table. “Certainly, General Holm.” He paused, thinking for a moment about where to start. His mind was always active, darting wildly from one topic to another. But these people were depending on him to give them clear guidance, not an outpouring of disorganized thoughts. He wasn’t in a lab now…he knew his insight was a key component in learning to defeat this enemy. In determining if humankind would survive.
“Thank you, Admiral Garret.” Hofstader looked haggard. He’d been working almost around the clock for months now, and the exhaustion was beginning to show. “I would like to begin with the energy we detected in the transmissions from Epsilon Eridani IV. Although I cannot confirm this with absolute certainty, I now am totally convinced we are dealing with a form of dark energy.” He paused, trying to decide how much detail to offer. He tried to remember he wasn’t talking to a panel of theoretical physicists. “This energy is undetectable to our normal scanning devices. In fact, we originally picked up the signal by accident when my colleague Dr. Travers was attempting to detect signs of life.”
Vance was looking at Hofstader as the scientist spoke. Travers, he thought, had been doing a lot more than Hofstader knew. But that wasn’t something they needed to discuss, at least not yet.
“We hypothesized that there may have been numerous prior transmissions that our detection devices were simply unable to intercept. Indeed, I just received a Commnet transmission from Dr. Travers. It was extremely cryptic…I’m sure he didn’t want to say too much on Commnet, but I believe he has been able to detect further signals.”
“He has.” Vance had to fight the instinct to keep his mouth shut. Travers was one of his people as well as a gifted scientist. Normally, Vance would be cautious about flaunting that connection. But he’d just lectured everyone on the need for cooperation, and he figured it should start with him. That Commnet transmission to Hofstader had also included a heavily coded message, one intended for Roderick Vance. “I have received a communication from him as well. He has detected four additional transmissions, though he has been unable to locate the source.”
“The transmitter could be anywhere…even the core of the planet.” Hofstader’s eyes had widened when Vance mentioned the additional signals. “I believe that the type of signal we are dealing with would move through the rocky mantle of the planet as easily as through deep space.” He looked from Vance toward Garret and Compton. “I also theorize that this energy can be used to send a signal directly through a warp gate.”
There was a stir in the room. No energy form yet detected could pass through a warp gate. The Commnet system was the fastest way to send a message, with transmissions traveling at lightspeed across each system before being downloaded into drones and sent through the warp gates.
Hofstader took a breath and continued. “I am sure you can see the implications of faster transmission.” He paused and swallowed. “Perhaps less immediately obvious is the enormous amount of power required to send a message through multiple solar systems without retransmission. Once again, we are dealing with a technology that is likely centuries ahead of us…if not millennia.
The German physicist paused and looked around the room again. He’d always been a maverick scientist, willing to go with his hunches rather than spend months or years endlessly running proofs, but now he was speculating wildly, and even he was uncomfortable with the level of pure guesswork in what he was reporting. But he knew there was no choice…if the men and women fighting and dying on the frontier couldn’t stop these things, this enemy would cut through the heavily populated areas of human-occupied space. They would attack Earth and spread death through the great cities of the Powers. He imagined neatly-arrayed columns of Reapers marching down the Kurfürstendamm and laying waste to the Institute. Human civilization – if not the entire human race – would cease to exist.
“Dr. Hofstader?” It was Admiral Garret who pulled Hofstader from his haunted daydream.
“Yes, admiral. Please excuse my distraction.” Hofstader was startled, and he pushed aside the nightmarish thoughts. “I…ah…would also like to review the strange metal used in the exoskeletons of the larger battle robots… the ones we have been calling Reapers.” The name, initially used by Teller’s exhausted troops to refer to the largest of the enemy combatants, had stuck. The smaller units were called simply battle robots…or just ‘bots. “As I stated at our last meeting, I noted that this same alloy was found in several areas of the Epsilon Eridani IV complex. I have now completed a deeper examination of the material, and I have some insights…some highly speculative ones…which I would like to share.”
He moved back a step from the table and pulled the control unit from his pocket. “I believe this alloy contains a lattice-like structure of dark matter, which serves to strengthen the metal and also to make it far more resistant to certain forces.” He flipped the switch and the viewscreen activated, displaying a large diagram showing the theorized composition of the metal in question. “We unfortunately know very little about dark matter, so my ability to even guess at the characteristics of this material is minimal.” He looked over at Holm and Cain. “For now, I would simply assume that it is very, very tough, and it will take your strongest weapons to damage it.” He paused and glanced at Garret. “I also believe it is likely that this material is used to some extent on their spacecraft, possibly the hulls. I would expect it to be highly resistant to laser fire though, again, that is a pure guess on my part.”
Garret and Holm both leaned forward and looked at Hofstader, but Garret spoke first. “Do you have any insights into how we should attack this metal? Any weaknesses or vulnerabilities?”
Hofstader frowned. “I’m afraid, admiral, that all I can offer now is the suggestion that you bring as much force to bear against it.” He sighed softly. “I know that is not terribly helpful.”
“No, I’m afraid it’s not.” Garret smiled briefly…the whole thing seemed like a sort of gallows humor.
“I have been researching it, but you have to understand, we have barely been able to confirm the existence of dark matter. The ability to secure or produce a large quantity and to manipulate it in a manufacturing process is utterly beyond us.” He paused, then added, “Indeed, a strict interpretation of our network of theories suggests that this type of usage is not possible.”
“I guess that book needs to be rewritten.” Cain leaned back in his chair, half-lost in thought.
“Indeed, general. I suspect much of what we believed we knew will be subject to significant change.” He paused, rubbing his chin. “We will be researching this for decades…centuries, probably.”
“Assuming anyone is left alive to study it, you mean.” Holm was fidgeting in his chair, trying to get comfortable. That was becoming more difficult for him with each passing year. The rejuv treatments slowed aging, but they didn’t seem to do anything for old wounds. “I’m afraid we’re going to be needing some help from you and your people in a much shorter time frame.”
“I assure you I understand fully, general.” Hofstader wasn’t an intellectual snob, but it was sometimes frustrating dealing with non-scientists. Some of them seemed to think you could drop a chunk of silicon in the ancient Roman forum and, three months later, they’d have a working fab producing integrated circuits. His academic colleagues frustrated him too, with their slow pace and rules and constant delays. But research did take time, no matter how many guns were pointing at your head. “We are doing everything possible to aid the war effort. Neither I nor anyone on Colonel Sparks staff have been out of the lab for more than a few hours of sleep
every couple days.”
Holm softened his tone. “No one is suggesting anything to the contrary, doctor. We already owe you a great deal for the insights you have provided. Without your data indicating the invasion was external, we might still be facing imminent war with the CAC and Caliphate.” He looked down at the table. “We’re all just frustrated.” Another pause. “I’m afraid I don’t react very well to not knowing what to do.”
“That is entirely understandable, general.” Hofstader wasn’t about to criticize anyone for being on edge. He was terrified himself, and plunging into his research 20 hours a day was the only thing that took his mind off of it. He hadn’t thought of the Marines being subject to the same fears as him, and realizing that the great military heroes of the Alliance were also scared wasn’t helping his own state of mind. “We do have some information that is useful in the short term.” He glanced over at Sparks. “The colonel’s people are working on some equipment that will certainly help.”
“Colonel…” Holm looked over at Sparks. “…perhaps you could report now.” He glanced back over at Hofstader. “Though please interject, doctor, if you have anything to add at any point.”
Sparks stood up a little too forcefully, and his chair slid away from the table. He reached behind himself and pulled it back. “Thank you, General Holm.” Sparks was reflexively straightening his uniform. The meeting was casual, but he was still uncomfortable with all the rank present. “Dr. Hofstader is correct. We have utilized much of his work, as well as the data sent back from the battlezones, and we are working on several systems that can probably be put into the field in the short term.”
He reached down to the table and picked up his own controller, pushing the button and bringing a schematic of a spacecraft onto the screen. “First of all, we feel quite confident that the enemy vessels carry their anti-matter weaponry in exterior harnesses not unlike our missile racks.” He clicked the controller again, and the display changed to a close up of the ship’s hull. “Everyone needs to understand there is an enormous amount of conjecture in what we are able to tell you today. This is a conceptualization of the most common type of enemy ship, which we are calling the Gargoyle for reference purposes. These vessels mass approximately 68,000 tons, about the displacement of one of our cruisers.”
He clicked again, bringing up another image, a view of the same ship from a different angle. “Notwithstanding the size of these ships, they appear to have firepower well in excess of one of our Yorktown class capital ships. Indeed, it is likely they have several times the effective strength, though the technology difference makes straight-line comparisons difficult.” Ships weren’t really in Spark’s area of responsibility, but the joint naval-Marine research team was reporting to him, and he was presenting all of the data to the high command.
“Despite the strength of these ships, we have identified a number of potential vulnerabilities.” He clicked the controller again. The display showed a complex schematic with icons and vector arrows all over it. “This is a diagram of the missile attack on Raptor near Adelaide.” He turned to look at the screen. “I know it’s a little hard to read, so I will get right to the point. The enemy seems to be quite susceptible to our ECM systems…far more vulnerable than one would expect considering the technological advantage they enjoy.”
He clicked again, and a chart listing percentages appeared. “These are the estimated percentages of enemy missiles successfully diverted from the targeted ships in every engagement for which we have data.” He hit the controller again, zooming in on the chart. “You will note that ECM effectiveness exceeds 35% in every circumstance, and ranges as high as 61%. Further, if we look only at our first line warships and remove the matchups involving civilian and local craft, the minimum percentage is 46%. Comparable rates of ECM interception when facing Caliphate or CAC vessels are in the mid-teens.”
“Do you have an explanation for this disparity, colonel?” Terrance Compton was flicking his eyes back and forth between the display and Sparks.
“Only an educated guess, sir.” He glanced over at Hofstader. “Dr. Hofstader and I have discussed it, and we feel it is likely nothing more than the fact that our electronic systems and frequencies differ from the ones they use and any that they have faced before. The Alliance and the CAC and Caliphate know each other’s weapons and systems very well, but we are new to this enemy.” He paused, waiting a few seconds to see if there were any questions. “This is a lucky break for us, and we need to use it to the maximum advantage while it lasts.” His voice became grimmer. “They will undoubtedly adapt at some point.”
“It’s a damned lucky break, considering the power of those missiles.” Garret leaned back in his chair rubbing his forehead. “Nelson, send the yeoman in with some analgesics.” He looked around the room. “Anyone else?” Most of those present nodded or raised a hand. “Nelson, make that a dozen doses.” Nelson was Garret’s virtual assistant. The AI’s code had been wiped clean as part of Gavin Stark’s plot to kidnap Garret during the rebellions. Nelson had managed to get a last message out to Admiral Compton, and he’d hidden a copy of the kernel, the primary component of his synthetic personality, in the transmission. After he was freed, Garret had ordered the AI reconstituted. The result was only a moderate success. The new system was very similar to the original Nelson, but Garret could tell the difference…it just wasn’t the same. The AIs weren’t human, but Garret still felt like he’d lost a friend.
“In order to press this advantage, I have had my team working on some enhancements to our existing ECM suites.” Sparks paused when the door opened, and the yeoman came in carrying a tray. The steward walked around the room, offering a small tab of tablets and a glass of water to each person seated at the table. Most of the room’s occupants took them.
Sparks waited until the door closed behind the yeoman. “As I was saying, we have developed some new features for our ECM suites, including a randomization routine that varies signals and frequencies.” He took a breath and wished he’d taken one of the painkillers. “We hope this will delay the enemy’s efforts to adapt to our ECM. The modifications are relatively easy to make, even in the field. I can have a team ready to ship out to Third Fleet in a week. We can upgrade Admiral West’s ordnance on station at Farpoint.”
Garret’s expression widened. “Good work, colonel. I didn’t expect anything deployable so quickly. Let me know what transport resources you need for your team.” He knew West was going to have a massive fight on her hands at Farpoint, and he wanted to get her any support he could.
“Thank you, sir.” Sparks looked at Holm, who nodded. Sparks was a Marine, and he reported to Holm, not Garret. “A small transport will be more than sufficient. It is mostly a programming change. The hardware upgrades required are minimal.”
“Send your orders back to Armstrong. I will have a vessel prepared for your people.” Garret paused then added, “I will also authorize any materials they need. Have them present their manifest, and they will be able to requisition whatever they require.
“Thank you, admiral. I will send the directive as soon as we are finished here.” Sparks was looking right at Garret. “We are also working on a new system, but it is not currently ready.” He glanced around the table. Every eye was on him. “We have preliminary designs on an ECM missile. Essentially, the missile mimics one of our vessels – power output, communications traffic…everything.”
He could see the questioning looks. “The purpose is to trick the enemy into expending their anti-matter weaponry while still out of range. Our examination of the enemy’s behavior in combat indicates that their tactical protocols call for deploying their heavy anti-matter ordnance at long range. Our studies further suggest that their forces are indeed supply-constrained with regard to anti-matter weaponry.” He paused and looked around the table. He could see from the expressions that they knew where he was going. “If we are able to convince the enemy our ships are closer than they are, we may be able to take the anti-matter weap
ons out of the equation.” Another pause. “Remember, these are not just the large warheads…we also believe they have anti-matter drives, which explains the massive thrust capacity of the enemy’s initial volleys.”
“If that system is effective, it will go a long way to giving us at least a fighting chance.” Garret glanced over at Compton, who nodded. “This system needs to be prioritized.” He looked back at Sparks. “Just let me know what you need, colonel.” Garret paused, looking into the Marine engineer’s eyes. “Anything.”
“Thank you, sir. I believe we are nearly finished with the design. After that is ready we will produce testable prototypes.” Sparks took a breath. “I’m afraid my normal facilities are not set up to manufacture ship to ship weaponry.” Anticipating the next question he continued, “With luck we may be able to deploy the system in four months.”
“Thank you, colonel.” Holm had a sledgehammer pounding through his skull. He’d taken the analgesics, but he’d be damned if he could tell what good they were doing. “I understand you are also working on some things for our Marines on the ground.” He was happy to share his engineering wunderkind with the navy, but his people needed help as well.
“Yes, general.” Spark’s voice perked up…developing systems for ground combat was his specialty. We are working on a number of moderate upgrades, mostly focused on increasing the impact power of our weapons. These things take a lot of punishment, and we need to be able to dish it out.” He clicked the controller again, and the screen displayed small schematics of the primary Marine weapon systems. “We are working on increasing the impact velocity of our mag-rifles as well as developing a weapon that delivers a larger projectile. We are also working on a series of small upgrades to our other systems.”