by Ryk Brown
“Captain?” Commander Taylor called from the open hatchway.
“Commander,” Nathan responded. “What’s up?”
“Lieutenant Montgomery would like to speak with you,” she stated as she entered the ready room.
“Bring him in,” Nathan urged.
The commander turned around and signaled for the lieutenant to enter.
“Lieutenant Montgomery,” Nathan greeted. “My condolences on the loss of your fellow countryman.”
The lieutenant looked slightly confused by the captain’s terminology but surmised its meaning nonetheless. “Thank you, Captain. We appreciated your kind words at the memorial service.”
“They were both fine men who gave their lives for this ship. As a captain, I cannot ask for more than that.”
“They were both volunteers,” the lieutenant stated. “I believe they both died serving a cause they believed in, as do we all.”
“How can I help you?” Nathan asked, changing the subject as he motioned for the lieutenant and the commander to be seated.
“You asked me to investigate the possibility of creating onboard propellant production capabilities.”
“Indeed I did. What have you learned?”
“As I originally suspected, it is not a small undertaking. Even using our more advanced systems rather than those detailed in your database, it would take time and a great deal of effort. It simply is not an alternative given the amount of time available.”
“You didn’t need a personal meeting with me to tell me that it can’t be done, Lieutenant,” Nathan stated with suspicion. “Was there something else?”
“Yes, sir. While I was investigating the viability of onboard propellant processing, I took notice of some other systems on the Aurora that I believe we could improve upon using Takaran technologies.”
“Such as?”
“As you know, we cannot provide you with shields that would not interfere with your jump drive fields as well.”
“Yes, that’s why we chose not to delay our departure in order to install the shield emitter arrays,” Nathan told him.
“We could begin the installation process during our recharge layovers,” the lieutenant suggested, “the same way that we upgraded the secondary jump field emitter array… using the crawlers.”
“Wouldn’t that take considerable time as well?” Nathan wondered.
“Yes, it would. However, we could do it a section at a time. Perhaps if we concentrated our efforts on strategic locations, such as the bow…”
“An interesting idea,” Nathan admitted.
“There’s more,” Cameron said.
“There are two other projects that you might be interested in, sir. We could replace your missile battery with a plasma cannon. It would be similar to but smaller than those that defended Answari.”
“Aren’t they relatively short-range weapons?” Nathan asked.
“Correct. Their effective range is only about five hundred kilometers. Beyond that the bursts begin to dissipate. However, their destructive power is far superior to that of ship-to-ship missiles.”
“Then why don’t Takaran warships use them?”
“Because they wouldn’t be able to get in close enough,” Cameron added, “not with everyone else using long-range missiles.”
“Like taking a knife to a gun fight,” Nathan said.
“Exactly,” Cameron agreed. “Getting in close is our biggest strength.”
“A plasma cannon, when used at the ranges that the Aurora regularly employs, would be quite formidable,” Lieutenant Montgomery said.
“We wouldn’t have to worry about running out of ammunition, either,” Cameron added, “and plasma shots can’t be taken out with point-defense systems.”
“But they can be repelled with shields,” Nathan said.
“To some extent, yes,” the lieutenant explained. “However, if targeted directly at the location of the shield emitters, repeated fire can quickly overheat the emitters and cause failure, thus weakening the shield. Take out several shield emitters within close proximity to one another and you can collapse an entire segment of the enemy’s shields.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Cameron said.
“What about the power requirements?” Nathan wondered.
“A single mini-ZPED would produce more than enough energy to power the weapon.”
“How long would it take to make the change?”
“The entire conversion can be done within the pressurized compartment that houses the missile battery. The weapon itself can be fabricated within a week and installed within a day, assuming the missile battery has already been removed while the weapon is being fabricated.”
“Could the weapon be mounted externally on the hull instead of replacing the missile battery?” Nathan asked.
“Yes, sir. However, leaving it out in the open during transit greatly decreases its operational lifetime.”
“Same reason all our weapons are made to retract when not in use,” Cameron said.
“I’m hesitant to take a working weapons system offline in order to experiment with a new one, even if it is more formidable.” Nathan looked to Cameron, his XO. “Commander, I’m assuming you and the lieutenant have had a lengthy conversation about this idea?”
“Yes, Captain,” Cameron answered confidently. “Risks, resources, personnel, the usual. I believe it is an interesting idea, in concept. However, I, too, would prefer not to trade in one weapons system for another. Perhaps we could fabricate the weapon, then mount it externally for testing purposes prior to using it to replace the missile battery. After all, we still have a full load of missiles. I see no reason to take them out of our arsenal.”
“Good idea, Commander,” Nathan agreed. “Would that be possible?” he asked the lieutenant.
“I’ll speak to Lieutenant Commander Kamenetskiy. I am certain he will have an idea of where to mount the weapon.”
“Very good. You may begin fabrication,” Nathan said.
“Yes, sir.”
“You said you had two ideas?” Nathan asked.
“Your torpedo tubes,” the lieutenant continued, “they could easily be converted to fire energy plasma shots as well. Although they would be at the disadvantage of having to fire along the same line as the ship is pointed, their destructive force would be easily one hundred times that of a plasma cannon shot. In addition, you could convert only one or two of your six torpedo tubes to fire plasma shots, leaving the other tubes to fire your existing torpedoes.”
“What would the range be?” Nathan asked.
“At least that of the plasma cannon,” the lieutenant promised.
“That’s still better than our current torpedoes,” Cameron said.
“Not much,” Nathan said. “After all, most of our torpedoes are armed with nukes.”
“But they do not travel at the speed of light,” the lieutenant added with a smile.
Nathan smiled back. “Tubes two, four, and six, Lieutenant Montgomery. They’re all yours.”
* * *
“Still nothing, Mister Navashee?” Nathan asked as he strolled around the bridge.
“No, sir. Sorry,” the sensor operator answered.
“We’re only six or seven jumps from the outer edges of the fringe,” Nathan said. “That’s less than one hundred light years. You would think we’d find somebody this close to home.”
“The files in the Data Ark only indicated that people were fleeing the core worlds to escape the plague,” Cameron said. “They didn’t say how far out they went.”
“The Takarans were a thousand light years out.”
“Perhaps they were the exception rather than the rule,” Cameron suggested.
“Perhaps. One thousand light years is a long journey, even for sleeper ships. What was the top speed back then?”
“About five times light for a cargo ship, I believe.”
“It would’ve taken them a couple hundred years to get that far out. You’re probabl
y right, Commander. Still, I expected to find someone by now.”
“It could just be our course,” Cameron said. “A few degrees in any direction could yield entirely different results.”
“Doubtful, sir,” Mister Navashee corrected. “We’d still pick up their emissions. They would be weak and difficult to pick out of the background radiation, but they would still be discernible.”
“Point is we might just be traveling through the most sparsely populated region beyond the fringe,” Cameron said.
“Mister Riley, are we ready to jump yet?”
“We’ll be fully recharged and ready for jump fifty-two in one minute, sir,” Mister Riley, the B-shift navigator, reported.
“Look at it this way, Captain,” Cameron said, “if we don’t run into anyone on our way home, we probably won’t run into any trouble either.”
“Jump drive is fully recharged, Captain,” Mister Riley reported. “Jump fifty-two plotted and locked.”
“Execute jump fifty-two,” Nathan ordered.
“Transferring helm to auto-nav,” Mister Chiles, the helmsman, reported.
Nathan sat back in the command chair and waited as the jump drive’s automatic navigation system programmed by the Takarans took over the helm of the Aurora and made subtle adjustments to her course and speed in order to execute the jump at a precise point in space, on an exact course, and at an exact speed. The difference in the result of the accuracy of the jumps was substantial, especially at their new maximum operable range of fifteen light years. Nathan still insisted that all jumps be limited to fourteen light years, preferring to keep a little energy left in the jump drive for an emergency escape jump, which was usually pre-calculated prior to each jump.
“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.” As Mister Riley announced the jump, the bridge filled momentarily with the blue-white flash as the two fields formed and collapsed into one another, causing the Aurora to transition instantly from one point in space to another, fourteen light years away. The entire process happened in less than a second, always culminating in the same blue-white flash of light that was automatically subdued by the ship’s view screen. Nathan had long ago grown weary of the exterior view of the seemingly motionless stars offered by the viewer, finding no appreciable use for the display. The only reason he left the exterior view up during the jump was for the psychological confirmation that it seemed to have on his crew. Anyone who witnessed the act of jumping was awestruck. Even after seeing it dozens upon dozens of times, he, too, never ceased to be amazed by it.
“Jump fifty-two complete,” Mister Riley reported. “Beginning recharge cycle.”
“Position verified,” Mister Navashee announced. “Beginning long-range scans.”
“Your shift doesn’t actually start for another thirty minutes, Captain,” Cameron said. “You might as well get something to eat before you start your day.”
“I already ate,” Nathan told her. “I got up early and worked out before breakfast. Doctor Chen says I’m out of shape, that I’ve put on a few pounds. I didn’t last as long in the gym as I thought I would. I guess the doc was right.”
“It’s all that meat,” Cameron told him. “But don’t feel bad. Doctor Chen told me that much of the crew has put on a few pounds. I think it is the Corinairan food everyone is eating. It’s designed for a Corinairan lifestyle, which is far more physical than life aboard a starship.”
“Perhaps you should institute mandatory physical training,” Nathan suggested. “Maybe ask Jessica to put together a program for the crew.”
“I’ll speak to the master chief about it,” Cameron said. “I’m sure the Corinari had considerable PT.”
“Good idea,” he said. “You know, you can take off early if you’d like.”
“That’s all right. I intend to have a few words with Mister Hayes when he comes on duty.”
“Has Josh been a bad boy?” He knew that not a day went by that the Aurora’s lead helmsman didn’t do something to irritate the XO.
“Nothing big, just the usual tug on the leash of an overly exuberant puppy,” the commander stated with a determined smile.
“I think I’ll skip that show,” Nathan said as he stood. “Perhaps I’ll take a walk around the ship before I officially start my shift. That qualifies as exercise, doesn’t it?”
“In some circles, I suppose.”
* * *
“Jump fifty-three complete,” Loki reported. “Beginning recharge cycle.”
“Position verified,” Lieutenant Yosef announced. “Beginning long-range scans.”
“Tactical, set the deck green,” Nathan ordered.
“Green deck, aye,” Jessica answered smartly.
“Tell me again why you’re here?” Nathan asked as he rose from his command chair and turned to walk toward his ready room at the aft end of the bridge.
“We only have two other tactical officers,” Jessica said.
“That’s why we’re all working twelve-hour shifts, Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan reminded her.
“Yes, and it wears on a person,” Jessica said. “I like to give them a day off once in a while.”
“You’re just bored. I saw you playing around with the console just before the jump,” he teased.
“I wasn’t playing around, sir. I was running tactical simulations using a plasma cannon and plasma torpedoes as part of the arsenal. I got the specs from Lieutenant Montgomery.”
“Oh, really?”
“You’d be surprised at the results I’m getting,” Jessica stated. “If those plasma shots are half as powerful as Montgomery claims, we could do some serious damage to Jung ships. You might want to reconsider replacing the missile turret.”
“Yeah, I saw the results of your simulations from the ready room,” Nathan said. Jessica looked surprised. “Hey, the captain sees everything. Anyway, I was talking to Vlad about the idea. He thinks we could convert all three science labs into cannon bays. They were designed to hold stellar observation equipment and the like. They’ve even got working retractable ceilings and outer hull doors. Vlad thinks it would be possible to adapt the lift system to work with the Takaran cannon design. The hard part is routing sufficient power to them. The power trunks to those sections can’t handle the amounts of energy needed to run those guns. We’d have to run new lines. There’s also the problem of heat dissipation. Those lines will get hot during combat.”
“A lot of work, then,” Jessica said.
“According to Vlad, yes. But it would give us three plasma cannons, each with independent targeting systems.”
“I’ll volunteer to pull cable through the access tunnels,” Jessica stated, “if it means we get three of those plasma cannons.”
“Careful what you wish for, Lieutenant Commander. According to Vlad, those tunnels are awfully dirty.”
“What’s a little dirt?”
“Flight Ops reports they’re launching a training flight of eight Talons, Captain,” Naralena reported.
“Understood,” Nathan said. “I’ll be in my ready room, Lieutenant Commander,” he told Jessica. “You have the…”
“Captain,” Lieutenant Yosef interrupted, “I’m picking up a signal.”
“What is it?” Nathan wondered.
“It’s organized, in patterns,” the lieutenant explained. “Very faint, but definitely manmade.” Lieutenant Yosef turned to face the captain. “I think it’s a comm signal, Captain.”
“From who?”
“Unknown. I can’t make it out. The signal keeps dropping in and out, mixing in with background radiation and other stellar noise. It might be a beacon, maybe an automated one.”
“Is it in motion?”
“Also unknown,” the lieutenant told him. “I’ll need to gather more of the signal before I can tell you anything further.”
“How long will that take?”
“Thirty minutes, maybe?” the lieutenant guessed. “It depends on how much interference the background stellar noise causes.”
“Naralena, wake up the XO. Tell her to report to the bridge in thirty minutes.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Can you tell where it’s coming from?” Nathan asked Lieutenant Yosef.
“Yes, sir, sending location to tactical.”
Nathan moved closer to Jessica, watching as the tactical display quickly plotted the location of the signal source.
“System designation is BD+25 3252. It’s about six light years away from our current position,” Jessica noted. “Thirty-two degrees starboard of our course, eleven up relative.”
“A single jump,” Nathan contemplated.
“Database shows it as an F-eight star: six gas giants with a lot of moons,” Jessica said. “Also two rocky planets, one listed as potentially habitable. According to the Data Ark, it was never colonized.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t think so,” Nathan said. “We’re still too far out. Even the fringe worlds weren’t more than thirty-five to forty light years from Sol.”
Jessica looked at the captain. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was hoping he would order them to investigate. Other than their near fatal jump near the event horizon, the process of jumping their way back home had been uneventful. For his security chief, the occasional dispute between Corinairan and Takaran crew members had been the only source of excitement. He was sure the only reason she was on the bridge was to break up the monotony of her daily routine.
“Mister Sheehan,” Nathan began, “plot a course for that signal…”
“Yes,” Jessica whispered to herself.
“I want propellant consumption reports for a hop to that signal, and then back on a course for Sol. Give me two possible profiles: one for deceleration to an orbit around an average moon orbiting a gas giant, and another for a full stellar orbit at approximately two hundred million kilometers. I want to know how much propellant we’re likely to use by investigating the signal.” Nathan looked at Jessica. “I’ll consider going if the numbers are right and if Lieutenant Yosef can figure out exactly what that signal is.” Nathan turned and headed for his ready room. “You’ve got thirty minutes, people.”