Chroniech!

by Doug Farren

  Tasha leaned back in her chair and gave the captain a stern look of disapproval. "So you think pacing the bridge and getting the entire crew on edge by your attitude is going to help matters? You're the commanding officer of this ship and you should know better than that."

  Stricklen stopped in mid-chew and chuckled. He finished chewing, swallowed, and replied, "Doug ratted me out did he? Can't say I blame him."

  Tasha grabbed a fork and speared several green beans and said, "He is the XO and it's his job to look after the welfare of the ship and its captain. Ken, as much as you would like, you can't always be on the front lines. Everyone in the military knows that frustration and boredom can be as great a threat as a direct attack by the enemy. Patience, however, can be a powerful ally."

  Stricklen was amazed. "Tash! You are full of surprises. I never took you to be a military philosopher."

  After swallowing a bite of her fish Tasha replied, "I have a brother in the army. Both my parents were career military working for naval intelligence. Most of the books and magazines in our house were military. I guess I learned quite a bit about military doctrine while growing up."

  At that moment Stricklen's earpiece softly begged for his attention. Stricklen took out his hand-held communicator, flipped it open, and said, "Stricklen, what is it?"

  "This is the communications watch on the bridge sir," a voice replied. "Sorbith is on his way back. He has ordered a meeting of all senior officers from both the Dragon and the General Patton in the GP's conference room in one hour."

  Ken glanced at Tashara then replied, "Very well. The senior staff will shuttle over to the Patton as soon as possible. Have the duty crew prepare a shuttle for immediate departure and inform the rest of the senior staff."

  Ken closed the communicator terminating the link. Tasha looked at him and said, "Looks like your patience is about to pay off."

  Stricklen stood up and grabbed his half eaten tray of food. "Patience my ass!" he chided. "Thanks for bringing me back to reality though. I owe you one. I guess I should go see if the peacekeeper has found a way out of this mess."

  Stricklen transferred his food into a container and headed for the shuttle bay. He wasn't about to waste a good meal.

  The air inside the General Patton carried the distinct smell of welding from the still ongoing repairs. The route they took to the conference room showed little damage but Ken knew there were sections of the ship which were still at a vacuum.

  Sorbith was already in the conference room speaking to Captain Mulgany. Stricklen approached and shook hands with the captain. "How are the repairs coming?" he asked.

  Mulgany was a small man, standing only 163 centimeters from the bottom of his shoes to the top of his short cropped hair. His features were almost boyish and anyone meeting him for the first time found it hard to believe he was the captain of a warship. Behind the boyish face and blond colored hair, however, lay a finely trained, highly respected Alliance officer.

  Returning the shake with a firm grip Mulgany replied, "Very well. We'll have her patched up in no time. Those old LA class ships have had some serious enhancements done on them. If they had been original we wouldn't have received a scratch."

  "That opens up a whole series of questions," Ken said. "Such as where did they get their upgrades?"

  "Excuse me!" Sorbith interrupted in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I would like to get this meeting started — everyone please take a seat."

  After a few seconds of shuffling, the crowd was soon seated around the conference table. "I have some late-breaking news," Sorbith, who had remained standing, began. "On the way up from the surface, I received a transmission from Almaranus. In anticipation of the Council's approval of the Hess / Kyrra request, they are outfitting a military transport with sufficient supplies and spare parts for an extended duration voyage. This ship will leave Almaranus in eight days and should arrive here in about four weeks.

  "Included in the message was a stern warning from the Grand Council to the Tholtarans. If the Tholtaran's carry out their threat and attempt to take the Kyrra stasis chamber by force they will be considered to be in violation of the Alliance charter. The Tholtaran battle fleet has been given three hours to leave Hess space. If the Tholtaran's ignore this warning and attack, all Alliance governments will be informed of this action and have agreed to immediately remove all Tholtaran citizens from sensitive areas and positions throughout the Alliance."

  Stricklen and Doug looked at each other with concern in their eyes. Their worst fears had just become reality. Stricklen had this sinking feeling that the Alliance was not going to be destroyed by the Chroniech, but would self destruct from within because of the overwhelming desire of some races to possess more power than their neighbors. Silence fell about the room.

  Sorbith continued. "I have been in discussion with the Hess and the Kyrra for the past three days and an agreement has been reached. The implementation of this agreement will commence as soon as this meeting adjourns. The purpose of this meeting will be to hammer out the details of how we are going to accomplish what we need to do."

  Sorbith walked over to a wall-sized display and activated it. As he talked, a list of items appeared on the display to highlight what he had to say. "The Hess have agreed to the following: They will provide us with the technical plans for a communications system which will allow us to send transmissions over a distance of 300 light years at a speed of three million cee. They will also provide us with the technical plans for an enhanced stardrive with a top speed of nearly 4,000c. Since the central field emitters of a stardrive are very similar to those used to generate a ship's defense screen, these plans will also allow us to produce a more effective shield.”

  "The final item to be provided to us required a considerable amount of negotiation. The Hess, as you now know, is actually a creation of the ancient Kyrra. It is an artificial intelligence originally designed to function as a sophisticated, self-directing probe. Its original core programming should have prevented it from ever interacting with us. Instead of responding as it did to the intrusion into its system the Hess should have wiped its memory and self destructed. For reasons only it knows, the Hess somehow managed to override this programming.”

  "The Hess has since been reprogrammed by the Kyrra to allow it to do what now must be done in order to improve the chances of successfully returning the Kyrra to their people. After learning that the route we must take to reach the suspected location of the Kyrra is through Chroniech space, I insisted the Hess provide us with a means of defense and also to provide us with some advanced weaponry for our own use against the Chroniech.”

  "After a great deal of discussion, the Hess, after consulting with the Kyrra, has agreed to equip the return ship with an advanced weapon system of their own construction. They will also provide us with the technical plans for an advanced weapon system for our own use. I have not yet seen the specifications for this weapon but the Hess assures me it is far beyond anything we currently possess and it is within our means to build."

  "Given what we have seen so far," Scarboro interrupted, "I would say that any Hess weapons technology would give us an edge against the Chroniech."

  "Provided we could build it in time," Mulgany added quietly.

  Sorbith continued before any other comments could be made. "He's right - just because the Hess is giving us this technology does not mean we will have an instant advantage over the Chroniech. It will take us time to develop the abilities and expertise to build these new devices. The communications device alone will require a considerable enhancement in our ability to produce super-fine control fields and ultra-super-high frequency resonators. It's going to be a race between our ability to use what the Hess will give us and the Chroniech's ability to wipe us out."

  "What do they want in return," someone asked.

  "It!" someone else corrected. "What does IT want?"

  "We are to try to reunite the Kyrra with their people," Sorbith replied. "To do this, we will
supply the Hess with a ship which it will then modify. The major portion of the modification will be the replacement of our stardrive with its own. The Hess stardrive, like ours, is an integrated package consisting of a power reactor and a closely coupled energy conversion system.”

  "Their drive system is unique in that it not only produces the stardrive fields, but it also generated the primary defense screen for their ship. When the Hess arrived here, the stardrive reactor became the main power reactor for the entire facility."

  Sorbith started slowly walking as he talked. "Since we will be taking the Hess' primary power source, a replacement will be needed. The Alliance does not possess a reactor of sufficient power to be used as a replacement. The only other power source of sufficient capacity available is the reactor for the stasis chamber. This reactor will be modified slightly and it will become the new main power reactor for the Hess."

  "But that would leave them defenseless," Captain Mulgany pointed out. "We're not just taking their stardrive, but their defense shield as well."

  "Good point," Sorbith replied. "And one that the Hess has already addressed. It has started construction of a replacement shield generator. It will not be as efficient as the original but it will provide a means of defense. The only thing we need to supply at this moment is a ship."

  Sorbith had been slowly making his way toward Stricklen. He stopped in front of the captain and looked at him for a moment before continuing. "Captain Stricklen, by the authority vested in me as a peacekeeper I hereby confiscate your ship in order to carry out the wishes of the Alliance Grand Council as expeditiously as possible."

  Stricklen's mouth flopped open but the shock of that statement was so severe he was at a complete loss of words. Before he could say anything, Sorbith continued, "I would have preferred to use the General Patton, but she has not only been too severely damaged but the Hess said it's too big to accommodate their stardrive.”

  "To increase our chance of survival on this trip we will need a warship. The troop transport which Almaranus is sending does not carry enough firepower for this mission. I also want to get underway with as little delay as possible so I have been forced to commandeer the only other available warship in the area — yours.”

  "A good portion of your crew will be transferred to the GP in order to make room for the spare parts and supplies that will be transferred from the transport when it arrives. Several of the Dragon's weapon pods will be removed and replaced with Hess weaponry. The stardrive will be replaced with the Hess stardrive.”

  "Since its stardrive requires more detailed information concerning the state of the space-time field around the ship, the navigational system of the Komodo Dragon will also be enhanced and upgraded by the Hess. Your main computer will be re-programmed to allow it to properly control the new system."

  Ken found his voice and asked the obvious question, "Who will be taking my place as captain?"

  "Nobody. You will remain in command of the Dragon. I am simply confiscating the ship and all its contents, including the crew."

  Inside, Stricklen was relieved. But he still had many concerns, "And who is going to do all this? How long will it take?"

  Returning to his seat, Sorbith replied, "The Hess is building a small army of robots which will perform the work under the supervision of the Hess central processor. We never realized it, but the Hess has a complete manufacturing complex buried beneath the planetary surface. It actually mines metals from the planet's mantel.”

  "This complex was used to build the probes which the Hess sent out to scan all surrounding space. Now it will be used to modify your ship. Think of it captain — by the time the Hess is through with the Komodo Dragon it will be the most powerful and the fastest ship in the Alliance."

  "How long?" Ken repeated.

  "Baring any unforeseen problems, the Hess claims that it can make the modifications to your ship in about twenty days. Work will begin in about fifteen hours, which is when the null-gravity work zone will be completed on the planet's surface. Construction is already underway. As soon as it is ready, the Dragon will make planetfall."

  A planetary landing? With a heavy-cruiser? Ken's thoughts raced. The Komodo Dragon had been built in space and massed over 215 thousand tons. She had never been designed to rest on a planetary surface. Structurally, the Dragon could probably take it, especially since it was designed to take a considerable amount of acceleration stress, but the ship had no landing pads and was not configured to support itself within a gravitational field. Stricklen feared that landing the Dragon was a very bad idea. He said as much to Sorbith.

  "Ken," Sorbith replied in a soothing voice. "I know you are concerned, but the Hess knows what it is doing. The descent will be under its control and it has assured me the landing can be made safely. They are building a special null-gravity dock which has been specifically designed to hold your ship. Trust it."

  Stricklen's unconvincing look went unnoticed as Sorbith turned his attention to the rest of the group. "We need to get down to business. The Hess has been standing by for our signal. Through a link which will be established with the Patton's main computer, the Hess will present its plans to modify the Dragon. We will work with it to ensure its plans will not impact any of the ship's functions. I will leave the determination of the new crew compliment up to Captain Stricklen."

  Not long afterwards, the Hess established the link and presented its plans to the group using the conference room's main monitor and holographic projector. Soon, Stricklen forgot his concerns as he concentrated on the task at hand.

  When the meeting was finally over, Stricklen had a good feel for what the Hess would be doing to his ship. He was also very glad that he could still refer to the Dragon as his ship. It would have been a devastating blow to him if he had been removed from command.

  15 - Tholtaran Advance

  Ken and Doug decided to grab a quick bite to eat in the General Patton's officers mess before heading back to their own ship. Due to all the repair work that was ongoing they were the only ones there. Captain Mulgany had declined the offer to join them.

  The two officers discussed all they had to do in order to prepare the ship for a planetary landing. Considering the facilities that the Hess would be providing it turned out to be much less than originally anticipated. They quickly finished and headed back to the shuttle bay.

  Captain Mulgany suddenly appeared around a corner seemingly in a big hurry. Slightly out of breath, he paused long enough to speak to the two officers. "The juggernaut is on the move. Its about to cross the line beyond which the Hess have promised to take action. You're more than welcome to observe from the bridge."

  Without waiting for a reply, the captain continued on his way at a pace just short of a run. Stricklen quickly followed with Doug tagging along.

  A computer enhanced visual of the approaching juggernaut was displayed on the main screen when the trio burst through the door of the bridge. An officer was seated in the command chair. Upon seeing his captain, he relinquished the chair and said, "The juggernaut has stopped just short of the line. The image on the main viewer is being transmitted from a probe currently located about 220 kilometers from the Tholtaran fleet. No actions have been taken by either side."

  "Range and status?"

  "Range, one hundred and ten thousand kilometers with all weapon systems fully powered," the officer replied. "We have shifted orbit and put the bulk of the planet between us and the Tholtaran fleet."

  "What a monster!" Doug remarked. Seen by itself, without a frame of reference, the juggernaut's size could not be determined. Doug's comment was made when a Tholtaran assault cruiser drifted into view. The assault cruiser measured roughly 975 meters in length. Compared against the backdrop of the juggernaut, it looked like a small, fat stick.

  "Picking up another drive-wake," someone reported. "Very small, distance zero point seven lights, traveling at high speed, possibly a probe. Wake signature analysis in progress."

  Eight brilliant points of
light appeared on the surface of the juggernaut. "They're charging sledgehammers!" the weapon's officer reported. Stricklen knew the sledgehammers of the juggernaut were hundreds of times more powerful than those carried aboard the Komodo Dragon.

  Being the type of weapon which it was, the sledgehammer required a few moments to build to full charge. Each vortex was held in the grip of powerful magnetic fields as it was charged with energetic particles. After receiving a full charge, the vortex would be launched toward its doomed target at nearly one-quarter the speed of light. Running the numbers quickly through his head, Stricklen realized the bolt from the weapon would take almost four seconds to reach their position.

  "Drive wake analysis of the incoming is complete," CIC reported. "It is consistent with a Chroniech reconnaissance probe."

  "That's all we need right now," Mulgany remarked.

  For six long seconds the sledgehammers built up power. Each point of light appeared brighter than a welder's arc. Then, as one, the weapons were fired. Stricklen watched them approach as if in slow motion. Each glowing ball seemed to crackle and spit excess energy into space as it flew toward the Hess base.

  Suddenly, all eight points of light stopped moving. Held in space by an invisible force, the solitons which made up the sledgehammer's energy containment bottle slowly lost their integrity and the deadly balls of energy simply snuffed themselves out in brilliant flashes of light and radiation.

  The juggernaut responded with a volley of hundreds of missiles and at least twenty energy weapons. The energy cannons of the juggernaut were more powerful than many planetary based weapons. Each one was backed by the full output of a five gigawatt fusion reactor. Even at this extreme range, the juggernaut's energy cannons could seriously tax the shield of all but the largest Alliance warship.

  Stricklen watched in amazement as the power of those titanic weapons was harmlessly deflected as they clawed at the Hess defense shield. One by one the missiles were quickly intercepted with precisely directed energy beams. They detonated in silent points of thermonuclear powered light. Apparently infuriated with their inability to inflict damage, the entire Tholtaran battle fleet accelerated forward with all available weapons blazing away.