“All I know is that’s it’s not the salvage ship.”
“Why do you say that? Besides the fact that they’re three days early.”
“This ship has a much larger ping and is approaching from the wrong vector.”
“What’s their current speed, Dillan?”
“60,000 KPH.”
“Only thing that’ll go that fast outside of the mag-ring is a military frigate!”
“We’ve not had any communications that our military was coming, other than the inbound salvage ship.”
“And the salvage ships are only capable of 52,000 KPH.”
“They’re just coming in range of the 100,000 kilometer SAT watch, at current speed they’ll arrive in just over an hour and a half.”
“Have you tried to contact them?”
“We’ve put out our hails, but they aren’t responding.”
“I’ll be heading over in a couple of minutes...let me finish with the Sarge and we’ll be out...I want you to prep the CSMO for full ion drives...we should bug out. The CSMO is an open target to any hostiles.”
“Okay, but I’m sure it’s really nothing much to worry about.”
“Dillan, this is a military vessel inbound. We’re bugging out until we know who it is.”
“Okay, I’ll get the engines prepped for departure, CSMO 253 Mathilde out.”
“Samuels, did you get all that?”
“Roger, I was listening. Why don’t you go over and I’ll finish up here. I can take the extra pod back to the CSMO before you’re ready to depart.”
“You sure about that, Samuels? You don’t want to miss your ride now.”
“I’m really close to getting this nut off. We’ll be ready for the repair when Tucker brings us the parts.”
“Alright Sarge, but I want you back on the CSMO in thirty minutes or we’ll leave without you.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice, Hargrove. I’ll be there.”
Hargrove made his way to his support pod and flew the five kilometers to the CSMO, “Smithers, this is Hargrove in Pod-1, prepare for docking.”
There was a rather lengthy pause before Smithers answered, “Okay, bay door open. You’re cleared to land.”
“Where’s Dillan? He was to meet me in the landing bay.”
“Dillan is in central control, powering up the ion drives as you ordered.”
Hargrove piloted the pod to its landing position, and the CSMO doors rolled closed. Smithers pressurized the landing bay with air and Hargrove unbuckled and floated out of the hatch.
“Samuels, how ya coming over there?”
“I’ll be finished in ten and there in fifteen.”
“Alright, hurry it on up now. We need at least an hour lead time to get lost deeper in the ‘roid field.”
“Understood,” Samuels squawked over the wireless. “So, where you taking the CSMO, Lieutenant?”
“I thought of taking the ship to 10 Hygiea. That’d be our closest target this time of year. We can hide out there until they clear the area.”
“Okay, sounds good. Just a couple more turns and I’ll be on my way...Samuels out.”
Hargrove finished removing his helmet and exited the landing bay and floated his way to the command bridge.
“Ah, there you are, Lieutenant,” Dillan said, looking up from his console. “She’s all ready to fire up. I took the liberty of programing the coordinates to 10 Hygiea. ETA at 45,000 KPH is 4 days.”
“Good work, Dillan,” Hargrove said, strapping himself into the command chair, he reviewed the course and speed settings. “ETA to hostiles?”
“They’re on course and speed is still constant; ETA 70 minutes.”
“Samuels, CSMO 253 Mathilde...you need to get over here now!”
“I’m trying to get out of the hole, my air pack is stuck on a strap. I can get it freed,” Samuels wrestled against the strap, “Won’t get there in time. You just take off and get that CSMO out of here. I’ll hunker down over here.”
“Samuels! I’m not leaving any of my men!”
“You’re not the Colonel, Hargrove. You don’t have a record to keep or anything. They won’t even give this broken jump ring a second look. It’ll just look like we abandoned it.”
“Sergeant, you need to get yourself back, we can wait another 10 to 15 minutes.”
“I’ll be fine...I have enough provisions on the ring to last a few days. I’ll see Tucker and hitch a ride when he gets here. We’ll meet you there.”
Hargrove hesitated and then thought better on staying, “Okay, Sarge. Maintain radio silence. We’re departing. CSMO 253 Mathilde out. Computer, record our new designation as CSMO 10 Hygiea until we return.”
“Samuels, out...maintaining radio silence. Have a safe trip, Samuels out.”
Hargrove terminated the comm link and then reached to grab his flight controls, only to be met with a rail gun planted on the side of his head.
He froze and relaxed his grip on the controls, “Kurtis...how in the hell did you get a weapon?”
“I’ve got my sources...now get up out of that chair...I’m taking back my command of this CSMO!”
“You have no idea what you are doing, Kurtis!”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea alright. Now move!”
Dillan remained still at being held at gun point by Smithers, “Kurtis...there’s hostiles coming, we need to get underway!”
“I know all about them...We’ll be long gone before they arrive and pick up our trail.”
Hargrove floated out of the command chair, and was escorted by two of Kurtis’ henchmen.
“Dillan,” Kurtis ordered, strapping himself in the command chair, “Change course to 52 Europa.” Then he motioned with a wave of his hand, “You guys take the Lieutenant to his holding cell!”
Hargrove knew he was defenseless against Kurtis’ hostile take over for the time being. He complied with being escorted off the command bridge of the CSMO.
“...and if I refuse to obey your orders?” Dillan asked.
“Take him too. I can see he’s already supporting the military. Smithers, can you program the course?”
“Yep, I’ll take us there,” Smithers smiled, with his toothless grin. Then slowly took his seat after Dillan was extracted, and was escorted with Hargrove.
“ETA to hostiles?” the pudgy looking man asked.
“55 minutes.”
Kurtis grabbed the control stick and jammed the thruster’s full power, sending the CSMO away from 253 Mathilde, and the jump ring.
“Speed at maximum 45,000 KPH,” Smithers reported, “New course set: 52 Europa engaged. ETA 2 days and 12 hours.”
“Excellent! And might I say, you will be rewarded for getting me out of my holding cell. Not to mention these rail guns you found. These are quite nice,” Kurtis laughed.
“You got my vote, Boss, You’ve always treated me right. You are the rightful foreman. I just wanted to make sure my cut wasn’t affected.”
“Not to worry, ol’ Smithers. You just earned your seat next to mine. I’ll reduce my cut by half, how’s that?”
“Real good, Mr. Daniels, real good.”
Kurtis pushed his comm button, “Munitions, deploy your mines and arm them. That’ll hold off those pesky Russians!”
“We’re ready to deploy mines, Boss.”
“Well? What are you waiting for?”
“Mines are deployed and armed. They’ll never know what hit em’!”
“Good work, boys. We’re setting up shop as soon as we arrive at 52 Europa. You can start mining real soon now.”
“Thank you, Boss, but you do realize we left a ton of equipment on 253 Mathilde.”
“We’ll do just fine. Once I contact my Uncle, I’ll arrange to have more sent out to our new location.”
“Very good, Boss. We’ll await your next orders.”
Kurtis released the comm button and turned to Smithers, “When was the last time they tried to raid our station?”
“I think it’s bee
n about eight months,” Smithers answered, scratching the back of his head.
“Okay. Well, they won’t find us this time!”
“No sir. If they find Sergeant Samuels, the only thing he’ll know, is we’re heading to 10 Hygiea.”
“I know. That’s why I’m in command and not anyone else,” Kurtis grinned. “I’d love to see the expression on that commander’s face when he realizes he’s in a mine field.”
“So would I, Boss. So would I.”
“No worries though, maybe next time, eh?”
“Yeah, next time, Boss.”
* * *
Jump Ring 253 Mathilde
Location
Kuiper Belt
5,000 Kilometers from Asteroid 253 Mathilde
Earth Date: 04/10/2065 14:00
The Russian Frigate Falcon had been dispatched ten months ago to investigate the strange signal emanating from asteroid 15 Eunomia. That signal had disappeared several months ago.
With no success in tracking down the signals, the Russian government had ordered the Falcon’s commander, Vladimir, to conduct military raids on the United Space Territories ZSMO’s.
“Zir,” Vladimir’s second in command reported, “The ZSMO 253 Mathilde has moved out of the area.”
“Thiz iz good. That coward, Kurtiz, did not want to have another run in with uz I zee.”
“Da, Commander. I have zcanned the azteroid. They left zeveral containerz and equipment on the zurface.”
“What about the mag-ring? Is it still functional?”
“It appearz to have been struck by something. It’s powered down and zilent.”
“Ah...zo our reportz vere correct. That UTS pilot did hit the ring. Zhe’s inoperable, no?
“Da, zhe’s lost a large chunk. It’s dead, Zir.”
“Good, can you plot a courze to intercept that ZSMO?”
“They left an ion trail that’z only an hour or zo old. Lookz like they vere heading deeper inside the Kirkwood gap.”
“Do you know vhere?”
“Not yet. It may take a while to calculate their courze. In the meantime, ve can follow their trail az long az they don’t deviate before we get a fix.”
“Change courze and purzue!”
“Aye, Commander!” his first officer acknowledged. “Zir! Picking up small objects in our flight path!”
“Hard to port! Hard to port!” Vladimir ordered.
Three explosions ripped the Falcon amidships, causing them to lose control.
“Mines!” his first officer exclaimed, the Falcon continued to turn away from the remaining mines. “Prepare for zhockvavez!”
The shock waves shook the frigate before the helm could right it.
The Falcon swung around to face the incoming shockwave. The ship rattled as it hit.
“Damage report!”
“Ve zuffered minor hull damage to our ztarboard plating...ztarboard thruster iz out...ion drive iz ztill online, but ve lost some coolant. Ve’ll not catch them this time, Zir!”
“Very vell, begin repairz on our damage. Let’z fly down to the asteroid and park while ve eztimate our repairz.”
“Da, I’ll put her down on the far zide and hide in itz zhadowz for the CSMO to return.
“Very vell...carry on,” Vladimir ordered.
* * *
Chapter 6
Salvage-5
Location:
Kuiper Belt - Asteroid 253 Mathilde
Earth Date: 04/13/2065 08:04
Mission Objectives:
DELIVER PARTS & SUPPLIES
FACILITATE REPAIR
CORRECT ASTEROID 253 MATHILDE
TEST JUMP-GATE
“Commencing ten minute retro burn Commander,” Sam announced.
“Wow,” Buster said, “The stars just slowed down...looks like we’re going backwards.”
“Yep,” Tucker answered with a smile, “You see those stars look like they’re going away from us because we were going so fast...sheesh; you should know that already, Mr. Astrophysics Genius.”
“Oh, I do, Commander...I just was commenting on how cool that looked.”
“Ah, I see...”
“Commander, we should begin to hear channel noise from their location...but I don’t hear anything.”
“Well, maybe your calculations are wrong after all?”
“No, Tuck,” Sam interjected, “He’s right...there isn’t any noise on any of our wireless channels.”
“Nothing at all?” Tucker asked with raised eyebrows. “Cass? Whattya think?”
“All the wireless channels are dead alright.”
Tucker depressed his transmit key, “CSMO 253 Mathilde, Salvage-5, do you read?”
“Commander,” Buster said, “You’re signals won’t reach them for another thirty seconds...once we finish the reverse burn and are at normal speeds, we’ll be able to have instant comm links back online.”
“Ah ha...well, thanks for that.”
“Oh anytime, Commander.”
“Three minutes to burn termination,” Sam reported.
Tucker nervously tapped his index finger over the transmit button as he counted down the time in his head. Then he clicked the button again, “CSMO 253 Mathilde, Salvage-5, come in.”
“Commander...”
Tucker stopped Buster short, “Thanks kid, I know about the time delay, but we should have had a reply by now...CSMO 253 Mathilde, Salvage-5...come in...repeat, do you read us, CSMO?”
“Reverse burn terminating on my Mark...MARK!”
“Set speed to 5,000 KPH and confirm our current position is 25,000 kilometers from the asteroid,” Tucker instructed. “What’s our time?”
“08:14 exactly,” Sam answered.
“Well, I’ll be he was right on the money with those times.”
“Thank you, Commander. I’m only happy to continue helping.”
“Uh huh, well, okay then. The jump ring and CSMO should be just a few kilometers off our port bow.”
“Nope,” Cass answered,
“Whattya mean, nope?”
“We’re at the correct coordinates. Mathilde is right where it should be...the Jump-ring is in position...but no CMSO.”
“This is rather peculiar...”
“Commander,” Buster said, typing on the console in front of him, “I’m picking up some type of distortion that’s interfering with our wireless.”
“Distortion? Can you be more specific?”
“Just that our wireless signals aren’t able to penetrate...wait, I know what the problem is.”
“Well? Out with it Kid. Don’t make me ask.”
“It appears that there were some explosions or detonations of some kind...that’s what’s preventing the signals from getting through.”
“Just where are these readings, Kid?”
“Well, they’re about 10 kilometers in front of our current course...that’s the main concentration...”
“All STOP!” Tucker shouted, pulling the thruster control back, “Sam, hold this position.”
“Whattya think, Tuck?” Cass asked.
“Mine detonations...I think the CSMO ran into some trouble and Hargrove set some mines before they left.”
“I think the Commander is right,” Buster added.
“What makes you think that?”
Buster pointed to a dark object in front of the ship, “There, a hundred meters ahead. Look.”
“Sam? Back us up...slowly and take it very easy!” Tucker instructed as calmly as he could. “We don’t want any of the gravitational forces from our engines to drag that with us...”
Cass turned on one of the ship’s flood lights and aimed it on the object, “It’s stationary, so far...but it’s definitely a mine...fully armed and loaded with power enough to punch a hole in our hull.”
“Before we go any further, can you scan for any more of these things?” Tucker asked.
“I can try,” Cass answered, “But I need to know the exact signature...”
“I can help,�
� Buster offered.
“No, Kid. We need to leave this to the professionals, thanks though.”
“No, really...I can help you.”
“Okay, smarty pants, just how do you expect to be able to help? You don’t have any experience...” Cassie shot in return.
Buster quickly typed in some computer code and transmitted it to Cassie’s station, “I think you’ll find this subroutine will track any mines in this sector.”
Tucker smiled and shook his head. Then pointed his thumb in Buster’s direction, “Cute kid, he actually thinks that’ll work.”
“See, Commander, these mines sent off an electromagnetic reverberation pulse when they were detonated. That’s what’s preventing our communications; its scalar technology in a bottle.”
“Wait a minute, Tuck,” Cass said with raised eyebrows, “The Kid, er, Lieutenant Clark has something. I’ve picked up another signature about 5000 meters from this one... and there’s two more beyond that...I’ve locked their positions into the NAV computer to avoid...I think our ‘Kid’ just pulled his weight.”
“Now, wait a minute here...I’ll be the one to decide if the ‘Kid’ here has pulled his weight or not.”
Buster leaned back and smiled with satisfaction, “Looks like I saved the day, eh, Commander?”
“EM reverb bursts disrupt communications. This was done deliberately,” Cass nodded. Then she continued to scan the region for more surprises.
“Scalar weapon technology,” Sam shuddered. “I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
“A Scalar Weapon detector,” Cass said, cracking a smile at Tucker, “Sounds pretty heavy to me.”
“Fine...fine...you saved us from the mines. We shall see if you will continue to pull your weight.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
“For what?”
“For just agreeing with them that I did in fact pull my weight.”
“Now, wait, I never said...”
“You did, Tucker,” Cass smiled, “I think he got ya.”
“Okay, smarty pants. How about finding a way to get our communications online again.”
“Sure thing, Commander. I’ll get started on that right away.”
“Geez,” Tucker said, again shaking his head, “Where do they find these people? Don’t answer that!” Tucker quickly added, cutting Buster off before he had the chance, “Cass, pull up the schematics of those jump rings. Let’s see where the docking port is. I know they have a command center and crew quarters designed in there. Just don’t know how to access it.”
Salvage-5: The Next Mission (First Contact) Page 6