by Doug Farren
Humans had taken to space travel like Europeans to the new world. People left Earth for new adventures and new frontiers in unheard of numbers, buying tickets on Consortium passenger ships, paying for passage on Consortium freighters, even buying and refurbishing obsolete Consortium ships. It hadn’t taken long before Humans could be found walking the streets of virtually every inhabited world of the Consortium.
Colonies had sprung up on worlds all over Human-dominated space and beyond. Several nations had established very aggressive colonization programs. In many instances, these colonies were protected by some type of military presence whether it was several orbiting ships or a military base. Private colonization efforts had also resulted in the establishment of hundreds of small unprotected colonies. Few, if any, of these colonization efforts were coordinated and nobody knew for certain what colonies and bases had been established or where they were all located.
Because of Earth’s location near the outer border of the Consortium, a huge expanse of space, unsettled and largely unexplored, lay beyond the space owned by Earth. While adventurous spirits rushed into this unexplored region, the World Council had established a program to methodically survey it. Occasionally, a survey ship would discover that an ambitious group of Humans had beaten them to the system. This fact would be included in the survey report. The warship was along to protect the unarmed surveyor in the event of the unknown. So far this team had surveyed fifteen other systems and the work had become routine.
After identifying the system’s major planets, the crew of the Columbus would plot a course taking them through the system bringing them close to each planet. This allowed the ship’s powerful sensors to scan the planet so its composition, atmosphere, and other vital statistics could be added to the growing database of explored systems.
The system they were now exploring was dominated by a pair of white dwarf stars locked together by gravity forming a typical binary star system. Seven planets orbited the star designated as the alpha star and three orbited the beta star. None appeared to be habitable.
It required two days for the Columbus to complete its survey of alpha’s outer three planets. The two ships were approaching the forth planet when the Vanguard’s long-range sensors picked up an unusual energy signature coming from one of the planet’s three moons. Captain Elliot stared at the tactical readout and shook his head. “Any ideas?” he asked the tactical operator.
The tactical operator had been working his console trying to coax some more information from the sensors. “None sir. The computer cannot identify the source. It’s very faint and looks random but it’s definitely not natural. I don’t know what it is.”
The captain reached over the operator’s shoulder and opened the link to the Columbus, “This is Captain Elliot. Can your sensors make any sense of what’s out there? Ours shows only a random non-natural emission of some kind.”
There was a long pause then, “Captain D’Marco here. We’re stumped as well. It could be a colony but we are pretty far out and the moon doesn’t appear to offer anything of value.”
Captain Elliot glanced at the tactical screen and replied, “Our scans are currently clear. Continue on your planned survey route Captain D’Marco. We will alter course to investigate.”
“Acknowledged. Columbus out.”
Captain Elliot made his way back to his command seat. On the way he stopped by the helm and ordered him to alter course. As he took his seat he said, “Coms, just in case this is a colony let’s try to hail them.”
A moment later, everyone was surprised when their hail was answered, “Hello? Vanguard? What kind of ship are you? Can you render us some help?” The transmission was weak and full of static but recognizable.
“This is Captain Elliot of the Earth ship Vanguard. We can provide assistance if needed. Please identify yourself and state the nature of your problem.”
“My name’s John, John Carpenter. We were out here looking for a mining opportunity when our ship started acting strangely. We set down on the moon pretty hard and now our reactor is making some funny noises and our power grid is all over the map.”
“That could explain the odd energy readings we’re getting,” the tactical operator observed. “It could also explain why their signal is so weak.”
“How large is your crew?” Captain Elliot transmitted.
“There are nine of us. I think this damn Russian piece of junk fusion reactor is going to blow any minute. I tried to tell the boss not to buy a second-hand ship but he wouldn’t listen. Now we’re stuck…”
“Calm down Mr. Carpenter,” Elliot interrupted. “First off, fusion reactors can’t explode. They can malfunction and quit but the reaction plasma cannot blow up. Hold on a moment while I consult with my crew.”
The captain muted his end of the transmission and addressed his bridge crew. “Helm, how fast can we get to that moon and be in position to launch a couple shuttles?”
After a few seconds of calculation the helm replied, “At hard acceleration we can be there in under thirty minutes.”
“Very well. Coms, call the XO to the bridge please.”
The captain then reopened his link and asked, “Do you have enough suits for your entire crew?”
This would have been a pointless question if the ship had been following government regulations but the regulations were often ignored, especially by civilians trying to rush into space in order to make a buck. Fortunately the answer that came back was, “Yes, we have suits for everyone. What do you want us to do?”
“Get everyone into a suit and then shutdown your reactor. We will land two shuttles near your area in about 45 minutes.”
“We’ll be ready. Thank you captain.”
Captain Elliot was not really concerned about the ship’s fusion reactor since they were inherently safe. If a reactor malfunctioned and the containment field failed the fusion reaction would simply halt. The plasma could conceivably cause some internal melting of the reactor core but it would no longer be capable of sustaining a fusion reaction and would quickly become harmless.
He was, however, worried about the ship’s power accumulators. There was no telling how the accumulators would behave if the power grid they were connected to continued to oscillate. A properly designed accumulator would have safety features built in, but this was a civilian ship which had obviously been refurbished in a hurry.
A few minutes after being paged, the executive officer, Commander Sylvia Berkshire, arrived. “What’s going on Bill?” she asked as she entered the bridge.
The captain explained the situation and gave instructions for his XO to put together two shuttle crews. Each shuttle could hold a maximum of seven. With a crew of two there would be plenty of room for the crew of the stricken ship. As the XO departed to begin the rescue preparations the tactical operator reported that the source of energy on the moon’s surface had vanished. Apparently the civilians had figured out how to shutdown their fusion reactor.
Thirty minutes later, the Vanguard settled into position directly above the disabled ship. The tactical operator had confirmed the presence of a small ship (type unknown) and nine life-signs on the surface. The shuttles were dispatched and they started their descent.
“I have a visual,” the lead shuttle pilot announced. “I count nine suited figures standing near what appears to be an old Russian oar hauler. These crazy people must have mounted a stardrive in it. It’s amazing how stupid some people get. There’s plenty of room to land. We will be setting down momentarily.”
Two minutes went by then suddenly several alarms went off on the bridge. The tactical operator scanned his console and announced, “Shield is up. Very strong EM pulse from the surface! Could be weapons fire or an attempt to disable our electronics. Picking up a huge amount of disturbance. Long-range sensors are being jammed.”
“Battle stations!” the captain announced while simultaneously slamming his hand down on the battle stations button on his console. Driven by faster than light technology
, the short-range sensors had detected the electromagnetic pulse from the moon and had automatically raised the Vanguard’s shield in time to protect the ship’s sensitive electronics from its devastating effect. If the Vanguard’s sensors had relied on non-FTL technology the EM pulse would have damaged or possibly even destroyed the ship’s electronics before the automatic defenses had had a chance to react.
“Helm, get us away from the moon; emergency acceleration,” Captain Elliot continued to bark orders. “Coms, send a full power tight beam signal to the Columbus and order them to evacuate the area immediately. Hopefully we can punch through this interference. Tactical, bring all weapons on-line and get me a target. They’ve got to be out there somewhere.”
The captain was pressed back into his seat as the Vanguard’s acceleration exceeded the capability of the compensators to fully cancel out the ship’s acceleration. The tactical operator was furiously working his panel trying to coax the sensors into punching through the interference. “Message to the Columbus is away sir,” the communications operator reported. “There’s a lot of jamming so we have no way of knowing if they have received it or not.”
For two long minutes nothing further happened. Then, “Short-range sensors are picking up three unknowns closing fast from the direction of the moon. Weapons are locked.”
Before the captain could respond to this information the communications operator said, “Sir, I’m picking up a strong signal on a short-range radio band. Apparently whoever set this trap has opened up a band so we can talk.”
“Transfer to my console,” Captain Elliot ordered.
A moment later a voice said, “Captain Elliot of the ES Vanguard. This is Captain Jaing commanding the battleship Luyang. I have three heavily armed warships with all weapons targeted on your ship. The Columbus is also being targeted by another ship. You will surrender to me immediately or I will open fire on both yourself and the Columbus. If you cooperate I promise you and your crew will be unharmed.”
The captain glared at his tactical operator and said, “I want to know where those ships came from, what are their capabilities, and if what he is saying about the Columbus is true. I want answers mister and I want them now.”
The man sitting in the tactical operator’s chair was sweating. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve the replied, “Based on the initial trajectories of the ships as they appeared on our sensors I believe they were hiding behind the moon in a low emission state. We can’t see through solid matter sir. Our long-range sensors are still inoperative so I cannot verify if the Columbus is in danger or not. The computer has identified the three ships now targeting us. The information is available on your tactical console sir.”
The captain did not want to keep the Chinese captain waiting for very long. He glanced at the summary report displayed on his tactical console. Instead of three Chinese ships as expected, he saw two Chinese and a one UAN destroyer. After examining the military stats a smile crossed his face. The opposing ships were impressive, but the Vanguard’s technology was significantly superior.
Pressing a button on his console the captain sent his reply, “Captain Jaing, I must congratulate you on springing a well planned trap. Before I consider your offer I need to know about the fate of my shuttle crews on the moon and I need to be allowed to positively confirm that the Columbus has been unharmed.”
Captain Elliot listened to the reply with one ear while simultaneously issuing orders. “Helm, standby to roll the ship. Tactical, begin charging the sledgehammers as soon as I start to reply to the Chinese. Program a full automated assault to be delivered on my mark.”
The Chinese captain had been saying, “Your shuttle crews are unharmed. I will not tolerate any further delays. You will cease acceleration and lower your shield immediately or I shall open fire on both of your ships. Come now captain, you are out gunned and I have no wish to be the cause of the loss of so many lives ... especially civilians. Lower your shield.”
Elliot paused long enough to make sure that his bridge crew was ready then hit the transmit button. “You have committed an act of piracy against a vessel of the Earth Defense Ministry. You captain, not I, will lower your shield or I shall be forced to destroy your ships.”
Captain Elliot could almost hear the laughter in the other captain’s voice as he started to reply, “You are ordering me to lower my shield? You have…” There was a noticeable pause as the Chinese captain received word of some sort of energy buildup taking place on the Vanguard. Then, in a more serious tone, “You have chosen poorly Captain Elliot.”
There was a click as the transmission was terminated. Captain Elliot said, “Fire!”
The helm activated a programmed sequence which caused the ship to begin rolling about its axis. This would spread any energy that might get through the defense shield across the armored hull minimizing the chance of a burn-through. At the same time, the tactical operator activated the attack sequence that had been generated by the ship’s tactical computer. The weapons of the Chinese and UAN ships and those of the Vanguard’s, spoke nearly simultaneously.
The attackers desperately wanted to keep the Vanguard as intact as possible. Captain Elliot knew this and had counted on it while considering his reply to the Chinese demand. It was obvious that the Chinese and UAN governments wanted the technological secrets contained within the ship, therefore, the use of nuclear weapons was not an option. Had they chosen to use such weapons, the outcome of the battle could very well have been different. Three streams of hypervelocity missiles lept out from the enemy and sped toward the Vanguard. Three beams of concentrated destruction also sprang into existence.
The attackers had apparently assumed that the Vanguard’s shield was only slightly more capable than their own and had adjusted the energy output of their weapons accordingly. Had they been targeting any other Human ship its shield would have failed almost instantly. But the Vanguard was protected by a shield designed by Jay Kauffman and CAIN. It quickly became apparent that the Chinese and the UAN ships had grossly underestimated the Vanguard’s capabilities.
The missiles accelerated at nearly 2,000 gravities. They did not carry a warhead but, instead, relied upon the tremendous kinetic energy they possessed. Because of the closeness of the combatants, it was nearly impossible for the Vanguard’s MK-36 Phalanx close-in defense system to detect and attempt to counter the missiles. The Chinese and UAN hypervelocity missile batteries were similar in design to those of the Vanguard’s and were firing a steady stream of projectiles at a rate of two missiles per second. Only one of every fifteen was successfully intercepted by the Vanguard's point defense systems.
The beam weapons, with their light-speed travel time, hit the Vanguard’s shield first, causing it to flare in a blaze of deflected energy. The shield employed by the AST-built cruiser easily deflected this onslaught. Energy was relatively easy to deflect as it could be channeled through the shield structure and radiated back out into space. The missiles presented a different problem.
A defense shield’s response to a solid object was markedly different than its response to a beam of energy. The mass of the missile could not simply be redirected. As the missile impacted the shield it acted as if it had struck a deformable surface instead of a solid wall. The missile was rapidly decelerated. Most of the kinetic energy was converted into heat, instantly vaporizing it. The mass of molten metal continued to rapidly decelerate, transferring its considerable kinetic energy into the shield. The shield, in turn, transferred a good part of this energy into its mounting structure. The result was a very noticeable impact as the entire structure of the Vanguard absorbed some of the kinetic energy. The designers of the Vanguard had taken all this into consideration. The mounts of the shield generator were massive shock absorbers that lessened the impact created by the missiles.
The Vanguard’s fire control computer had selected the most efficient attack sequence based upon the available weapons at its command and the known or suspected defensive capabilities of the targets.
As its two sledgehammers charged to full power, the ship’s main guns opened fire on the closest ship. Two beams of coherent energy from the MBL-HV Mark-I lasers struck the shield of the UAN destroyer. Four of the eight HPL type 2 lasers had also targeted the exact same point.
The UAN shield resisted for a fraction of a second before it was overwhelmed by the superior power of the Vanguard’s weapons. The shield did not collapse as many people mistakenly believe a shield does when defeated but instead, started to leak. The energy that could not be deflected passed through the shield and started to heat the armor plating of the destroyer.
The UAN had not learned the tactical value of rolling their ship. The point of impact, therefore, remained constant. The hull quickly became hot enough to glow, turned red, then white. Six seconds after the battle had begun, the attacker's hull started to melt. Once the armor was gone, the beams chewed through walls, furniture, equipment, and people faster than the eye could follow. When the beam encountered the shield generator, the ship's primary means of defense vanished. The Vanguard’s fire control computer then split the two primary beams into a V shape and quickly rendered the first target inoperative.
At this point the battle had lasted a mere ten seconds. While the Vanguard’s weapons were under the control of the ship’s tactical computer with its inhumanly fast reflexes, the Chinese weapons were manned and controlled by Human operators. What made matters worse for the Chinese was that these Human operators would take no action on their own but, instead, would wait for orders from their commanding officer. If the Chinese weapons had been under the control of a computer the tide of the battle could have been turned because the two remaining ships did possess enough combined firepower to punch through the Vanguard’s shield.
The Vanguard’s computer had noted the lack of response from the two remaining ships and based upon its knowledge of the Chinese military had come to the same conclusion. It therefore paused for two full seconds while the sledgehammers continued to charge. When the time was ripe, the Vanguard proceeded with its final assault.