A Faded Star

by Michael Freeport

  Stokes nodded. “I know how you feel, sir. I would be tempted to give up the Rampart myself to go.”

  “That was never an option, Franklin. The Rampart is going to have a very different assignment shortly. Investigating the source of the origin signal is of paramount importance.”

  “Do you think we can trust them, Admiral?”

  “Admiral Drogue has been given some specific orders regarding how much tactical know-how the alliance is to be offered. One thing we will not be sharing under any circumstances is our weapons technology. The crab ships seem especially vulnerable to our energy weapons from what the alliance delegation has been asking for. We have, thus far, refused to enlighten them. We may be able to trade for some pretty advanced scientific and medical technologies for it, eventually. Once they have proved themselves as reliable allies and not simply partners against a common aggressor.”

  “I'm glad to hear it, admiral.”

  “I'd better go prepare for the ceremony. I will see you there, Commodore.”

  “Yes, sir,” Stokes said. He stood, shook the admiral's hand and saw him to the door. After the admiral had left, Stokes stood staring off into space for a moment. “I sure hope Drogue doesn't get her killed,” he said to the empty room.

  The boarding concourse looked out at Rampart. Her starboard side was still split open from the damage to the mid ships weapons bay. Repair crews swarmed over the hull and were passing through the boarding tubes in an endless stream. The entire crew, short minimum watch stations personnel, were in their dress uniforms in formation on the concourse. At the front of the formation, officers and department heads stood at attention. Admiral Vesper, Commodore Stokes, Captain Hanlon, Commander Kri and Admiral Drogue were assembled on a raised platform.

  Commodore Stokes stood and motioned Hanlon to stand. “I first want to congratulate you on your promotion to Captain, Miss Hanlon.” Stokes turned and looked over the assembled officers and men. “Attention to orders. By order of the Lashmere Space Navy admiralty, you are hereby relieved of the position of executive officer aboard the Lashmere Space Navy Ship Rampart. You are hereby directed to assume the station of executive officer of the alliance expeditionary force under the command of Admiral Drogue. Specifics on your assignment are in your mission packet.” Stokes formally handed over the thick paper envelope to Captain Hanlon.

  Hanlon took the packet and saluted sharply. “Thank you, sir.”

  Stokes saluted back and then said, “Mister Kri step forward.”

  Halford Kri stepped forward and saluted. “Sir, Lieutenant Commander Kri reporting.”

  Stokes returned the salute and then said, “Mister Kri, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commander.” Stokes and Vesper stepped forward and pinned the new rank insignia on Kri's collar. The three tiny silver stars glinted in the light. “You have been relieved as science officer aboard the Rampart. You are hereby directed to report aboard the Rampart to assume the duties of executive officer. Your order packet contains the specifics of your assignment.” Stokes saluted Kri. After Kri returned the salute and re-seated himself, Stokes turned to address the crew. “First I want to thank you all for the exceptionally hard work over the last few weeks. The ship has been recovering from battle damage at an extraordinary pace. Well done.

  “As many of you have speculated, the Rampart has been given orders to search out and discover the nature of what is being called the origin signal. Due to the urgency of our assignment, no one in the crew will be eligible to volunteer for the expeditionary force. I know many of you want to go, but we need Rampart fully crewed and trained to begin this mission. The admiralty has designated our mission to be highly time sensitive. Our politicians have finalized the non-aggression and mutual aid pact between the people of Lashmere and the alien alliance.

  “Rampart will jump out of this solar system in nine days. Her departure will mark the beginning of a new era for humanity. Once more, we travel beyond our home star system to join the greater community of interstellar space. We hope to find friends and allies.” Stokes' face grew grim. “If we find enemies, we will be alone and without the possibility of rescue. Rook, the second ship of Rampart's class, is still months from completion. We will succeed at our mission and return, having solved the mystery of the origin signal. I thank all of you, again, for all of your hard work, and I look forward to leading you through the mission that lies before us.” Stokes turned and looked at Admiral Vesper, who nodded. “Crew, fall out and enjoy the afternoon socializing. I encourage you to take a moment to congratulate Captain Hanlon on her promotion and to wish her and Admiral Drogue luck leading the expeditionary force.”

  Aden Patho watched the group from the stage break up and begin moving through the assembled crew. He approached Stokes and said, “Sir, who will be replacing Mister Kri as science officer?”

  “A newly assigned officer. I tried to promote one of the division officers, but none of them have the experience needed.”

  “I see, sir. When is Hal's replacement arriving?”

  “Tomorrow morning. Since Mister Kri is still settling in to his role as executive officer, I would appreciate it if you would take charge of getting the new science officer orientated to Rampart.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very good, Mister Patho. I'll forward the pertinent information to your data node once the ceremony is over.”

  Patho nodded, and as Stokes walked away, Patho turned and nearly collided with Admiral Drogue. Patho felt his spine go stiff. Of all the people currently in uniform, there was no one he would rather less meet than Admiral Drogue. Drogue had commanded the forces that defeated the Karn nation. Patho started to simply step around the man, but Drogue began to speak, halting Aden with his voice.

  “Mister Patho, I am glad to have the opportunity to meet you here.” Drogue caught the expression on Patho's face. “Commander, I'm sure you would likely rather not talk to me, but it's important I say this. You, and your career, are symbols of unity for our people. Without men of courage like you to join and serve, our military would undoubtedly seem nothing more than an occupying force. We need you and everyone like you to help our people stay united in the cause of safety and the well-being of everyone on Lashmere.”

  Patho stared at the admiral, speechless for a moment. Admiral Drogue was not a young man. There were heavy wrinkles around his watery blue eyes and gray peppered his dark brown hair. The admiral's eyes took on a light of disappointment, and he began to turn away when Patho said, “My father died in the war, sir.”

  Drogue held Patho's gaze for a long moment before looking down. He said, “I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't know.” The admiral strode away.

  Patho watched him go and just stood, trying to get control of his emotions for a few moments. He walked, almost in a stupor, to a chair and sat down, staring, unseeing, at the floor in front of him until Simmons came to him.

  “Hey, Aden. It looks like the party is starting to break up. Want to go back to your cabin?”

  Patho jumped at the sound of her voice and then stood abruptly. He looked down at her brown eyes, staring up, waiting for an answer. He considered her question and rolled it back and forth in his mind for some time, pondering her voice and posture. Simmons started to get a concerned look on her face when Patho just stared at her without responding.

  “Aden, are you okay?”

  “Marli...” Aden looked down at the floor before responding. “I ran into Admiral Drogue a few minutes ago. It made me think of the war is all.”

  “Did you have any family in the war?”

  Aden looked up and stared into her eyes. She looked genuinely concerned for him. “My father died in the war. He was in the final stand just before the surrender. If the Karn government had just acknowledged the Ebrim superiority before that last battle, my father would be here today.”

  “Aden, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me earlier?”

  “I try not to think about it. My whole family despises the fact I join
ed the Lashmere military. They believe I sold out the Karn people, but all I ever wanted to do was serve in space. When I discovered I was so good at drone command and got my meritorious promotion, no one in my family was happy. They all told me to stop helping the enemy.” Aden sighed heavily. “I usually try not to talk about it because it's such a depressing topic. I'm proud of the fact I can serve the people of Lashmere.”

  “Sounds like you have the right attitude, Aden. Sometimes the past can be really hard to let go of.”

  “Yeah.”

  Marli took Aden's chin in her hand and tilted his face up. She looked at him for a long moment before letting go. “Come on, Aden. Let's get out of here before you depress everyone else.” She smiled and gave him a suggestive wink. “Besides, I know just the thing to take your mind off the past.” With that, she took his hand and practically dragged him out of the boarding concourse.

  Stokes watched the pair depart. He turned to Hanlon and said, “How long has that been going on?”

  Linis said, “About five weeks now, sir. I was pretty surprised. Patho isn't who I would have pegged as her type.”

  “Well, she'll have to put a stop to it once she is officially assigned as our science officer tomorrow morning. I suppose we can let them have one last night together before I surprise her with her new orders. I was going to present them to her informally this evening.”

  “Sir, I never knew... you're a romantic.”

  Stokes chuckled quietly, almost to himself. “Since you are shortly headed to a system at least a hundred light years from here, I can assume my secret is safe?”

  “I am the reigning queen of discretion, sir,” Hanlon grinned at Stokes.

  “Things won't be the same without you here, Linis.”

  “I'll miss you too, sir.”

  The pair quietly contemplated the moment for a few seconds and then nodded to one another and strode off to their separate duties. Hanlon went to clean out her cabin so Kri could move in, and Stokes set out to begin driving the shipyard with Hanlon's schedule.

  The expeditionary force departed in an alliance troop transport seven days later. The cavernous ship, originally designed to haul massive loads of consumer goods and raw materials from one side of the alliance to another, housed the entire force easily. The ship had been retrofitted with expanded life support and a warren of crew quarters. Most of the crew of Rampart came to cheer and support those who were leaving.

  Cobb joined the other member of the scientific team, an actual archaeologist, Dr. Stapeley, who was a long-time expert in the study of mankind's origins and arrival on Lashmere. The two man team reported to Stokes and Kri before being assigned guest quarters.

  Stokes had not relished telling Simmons she was assigned to the Rampart. She had frequently been a problem with discipline, and he had his doubts as to whether or not she would follow protocol and break off her relationship with Patho now that they were assigned to the same command. So far, no one had reported any questionable behavior to him, and Kri had taken a strangely intense interest in ensuring the pair was actually following the rules. Vesper had assured Stokes that Simmons would be transferred back off the Rampart once their exploration of Buckman's star was over.

  Rampart was ready to depart the Lashmere system two days later, a full eleven days ahead of schedule. Hanlon's organizational abilities were still bearing fruit. The morning of departure, all stations were manned for maneuvering out of space dock. Stokes entered the newly repaired main bridge and settled himself into the thickly padded gray command chair at its center.

  “Mister Kri are departure stations manned?”

  “Yes, sir. The ship is fully manned. All crew members are present and accounted for. The ship is ready for departure.”

  “Very well. Release all docking clamps and engage engines. Back us out of dock and into open space.”

  “Aye, sir.” Kri turned and began giving relevant orders. The ship shuddered slightly as the moorings were retracted and the ship floated free in the massive shipyard. Slowly, Rampart slid out of the berth where she had undergone refit and moved into open space. The shipyard facility stretched both port and starboard for nearly a kilometer, lined with similar docks for ship construction and refit. Kri said, “Sir we are clear of the shipyard. All stations report ready to navigate.”

  “Very well. Plot a jump to the cometary shield at these coordinates,” Stokes said and sent a series of numbers to Kri's station.

  This was an expected order. The Rampart would first make a several light hour jump to prove her faster than light system and to verify her ability to operate away from the support structures that existed around Lashmere.

  Kri punched the coordinates into the executive officer station and then he said, “Plot jump to coordinates displayed on screen.”

  Simmons said, “Aye sir.” She relayed the order to the helm, and the litany of repeated orders went back and forth across the bridge as the jump plot was verified and the engines spooled up for the jump.

  The Rampart left Lashmere orbit and arrived at the comet shield less than an hour after her moorings had been retracted. Her arrival was equally anticlimactic.

  “All systems report normal, Captain,” Kri said. “The point to point drive functioned perfectly.”

  “Very well. Miss Simmons, do you see any indication of any kind of problem with us plotting a five light year jump?”

  “No, sir. The power consumption curve is exactly as expected. We have plenty of fuel for the trip.” Fuel, in this case, was a controlled mass of highly energetic isotopes that formed in the radiation belts of most gas giant planets. The isotopes were sifted from the belts with huge electromagnetic scoops that then passed them into holding tanks that held them 'compressed' between magnetic fields and prevented their decay until it could be used to fuel the massive energy requirement the point to point drive needed to function. Fortunately, Lashmere had two gas giants, both of which could be used to harvest the isotopes. The remaining power systems, including the main gun, were powered by a pair of fusion reactors situated along the central axis of the ship.

  Stokes said, “Position report.”

  “Sir, it looks like we have arrived within five hundred meters of our expected arrival coordinates,” Simmons said. She tapped at her console a bit more before continuing. “Sir, our orientation is oddly deflected.”

  “Define oddly deflected, Miss Simmons,” Stokes said.

  “The specifics are that we are pointed twenty-six degrees relative to the plane of the ecliptic. I'm trying to run through the possible interactions with our point to point drive.”

  “Very well. While you work that out, we will spend some time exploring the area. Mister Kri, engage sublight engines and begin moving towards the cometary cluster just off the port beam. Also, shift from system bearings and coordinates to galactic bearings and coordinates.”

  “Aye, sir. Shifting coordinate system now. Helm engage engines and make for two-five-five by zero-one-eight.” The system for navigation used by most Lashmere ships was originally based on a system that placed the Lashmere star at the center of all plots and as such was relative to the Lashmere system only. Since they were traveling outside the Lashmere system, the Rampart had adopted a system that placed the center of galactic rotation as the center point of all their navigational coordinates.

  The Rampart took several hours to arrive at the cometary cluster. Careful sensor scans revealed the comets to be nothing more than balls of frozen water, gas and rocks. In that time, Marli Simmons was unable to work out the issue with the point to point drive. She reported her failure to Commodore Stokes.

  “Miss Simmons, are you sure there is no explanation for out orientation change?”

  “It bears no measurable resemblance to any unaccounted for interaction. There were a number of interactions with our faster than light transit I have corrected for. Although I am hesitant to say so, I believe it may have been a random confluence of seemingly unrelated factors. “

 
; “Very well. Is it your opinion that it is safe to make a longer jump, Miss Simmons?”

  “Yes, sir, but I recommend we not jump more than another few light weeks. That will allow us to determine if this is a system error or if something else effecting the system that we can begin to predict.”

  “Very well. Mister Kri, plot a six light week jump towards Buckman's Star.”

  “Aye sir.” The orders were passed once again. Once the drive had spooled up to maximum power, the ship maneuvered through her jump ring. The ship arrived exactly where she was supposed to be and in the correct orientation. No one could determine an explanation for what had happened. Eventually, Stokes made the decision to press on despite this minor issue. The ship made four more jumps, one six light months followed by a nearly three light year and finally two maximum range jumps to place the Rampart on the outskirts of the Buckman's Star system. All of the subsequent point to point transits were performed flawlessly. To call Buckman's Star a system was a bit of a misnomer. The star, a dying red giant, was surrounded by a massive asteroid belt so broad it was nearly a system of rings around the star itself. The nebula lurking on the edge of the system was composed almost entirely of hydrogen, helium, and some trace noble gasses.

  The ship had very limited ability to determine what was going on in the system. Some kind of passive interference was blinding all but the sublight sensors which had an extremely limited range.

  “Looks like we will have to push in slowly on the sublight engines, sir,” Kri said. “The density and prevalence of asteroids around this star is rather astonishing. It's a wonder they didn't reform into planets as happened at Lashmere.”

  “Agreed, Mister Kri,” Stokes said. “I hope Linis is doing better than we are. This is going to take weeks to search the asteroids for that signal.

  Linis Hanlon was not doing so well, as it turned out. She had spent the entire trip from Lashmere to the alliance base disagreeing with Admiral Drogue about combat effectiveness, resource allocation and the usefulness of alliance ship designs. Drogue had taken the position of advising the alliance to rebuild their entire fleet with better utilization of their technology. Hanlon believed they should make the best of what they had and allow the alliance ships to be improved as new ships were built. They met in a small conference room half an hour before meeting with the alliance commander to present their recommendations for fleet deployment.