She took one more break to breathe and get her gut back under control.
"I would be remiss if I did not also thank our cavalry. Commander Nonna and Captain Barber did not hesitate, did not wait for orders, but took the initiative and came to our aid, and to the Inoris', despite the danger. They are some of the best we have." Time to wrap this up, she thought.
"Again, we are most happy to be home. This is the only statement we will make. The crew has decided that they do not wish to speak individually with any media. We expect you to respect that decision. Thank you."
Her speech complete, she walked back to the line of brass who were their welcoming committee, the crew following behind in rank order.
"Excellent, excellent work Commander," gushed the CINC.
"Thank you again, sir. May I introduce..." each officer and crewman went down the line. It was like the worst wedding receiving line you ever saw. CINC, Deputy CINC, Director of Operations, representatives from the Space Council, various country representatives, FPI executives, each had a moment with the crew. One had to give Davenport credit, though. He had taken the time to learn every survivor's name. It seemed to take forever, but finally they worked their way to the ground transports and headed towards the quarters where they would stay for the next few nights. For Terri and her crew, it was finally over. There were a lot of tears on the transports, relief sinking in that they were finally home. They would have a couple days for rest and interviews with FleetIntel and then four weeks leave. Stalingrad and her group were still at Inor, guarding the planet and looking for more evidence about the enemy.
The media were all over the survivors and their families, but not one broke rank. They held a meeting on the way back, and they all agreed that there would be no media interviews on the return. Anybody wanted to write a book, fine, go for it. But no circus acts for the masses right after losing so many friends. It would be disrespectful. And they knew Captain Carpenter would not approve.
Just about the time Terri Michael was addressing the media, a small shuttle from Dunkirk was quietly setting down on the other side of the ISC Fleet HQ building. Ron Harris was there to meet it.
ISC Fleet HQ Intel Section
Ft. Eustis, VA
Friday, February 11, 2078, 1130 EST
Ron Harris carefully placed the package in his office safe, locking it carefully and locking his office behind him as he left. He had called a meeting for 11:30 AM and was now hustling to the conference room.
As he came in everyone was already there, as usual. He sat, they were quiet, well, mostly. He wondered how they would take this. Clearing his throat for attention, he spoke quietly, thoughtfully.
"Gagarin found Liberty's flight data recorder. It's in the safe in my office."
The room was immediately silent. They had thought the FDR lost in the ship's explosion. If intact, all communications, sensor data, weapons conditions, and ship status for the last 24 hours would be available to them.
"What kind of condition is it in?" asked Elias Peña.
"It's fine, maybe a little soot, but intact. Now, folks, let's remember that the fact that we have this one is exceptionally sensitive."
"And exceptionally lucky!" Elias Peña added.
"Indeed. As I said last week, we have another special project over our usual fleet intel support duties."
"We need to get into that thing right away, sir." Roger Cox said, intrigued.
"I know. I have the access code."
There was a 'what are we waiting for' atmosphere in the room that Harris could feel. Every eye was on him and every face had an expectant excitement about it.
"OK, OK, we'll open it. We will start with the scan data. I don't know that we should be reading out the communications yet. There are going to be a lot of familiar voices of friends and former shipmates on those recordings. Let's concentrate on who, or what, we're up against, OK?"
"What about the RFG's? Lazy Dogs?" asked Frances.
"Less success with those, but what they have is still on Dunkirk. I know Evans dug up a Dog the first day. They'll bring them down when we can figure out where they should go. The Lazy Dogs are much bigger than the ones used in Vietnam, something like a quarter meter long and sharp as Hell. The RFGs are huge - maybe 5 meters, and they went in a long way."
"But we have one?"
"Most of one, I think. I am not sure what condition they were in - Intel on Dunkirk did not want to get into detail, which I understand. I would have thought they vaporized on impact."
They got up and moved into a larger workroom. Harris opened his safe and brought the package into the work area. He unzipped the duffel Dunkirk had sent it down in and placed the recorder on a work table in the front of the room. It was smaller than one might think, perhaps two loaves of bread laid end-to-end. It wasn't high-visibility orange like an aviation data recorder, but a low-visibility flat black, designed to be located only by those who knew exactly how. Each FDR had a radio receiver, listening on a unique frequency for a unique activation code. If the FDR heard the right code on the right frequency, it would transmit a homing signal. Gagarin had picked it up the second day at Inor. On the front of the device was a recessed access door, just four screws holding it in place, and behind which was a numeric keypad.
Then came the tricky part. The FDR required a ten-digit access code. There was only one code that would open it, and you only got one chance. Enter the wrong code and the device would irretrievably erase its contents. They'd get nothing. They looked at each other for un uneasy moment. Harris smiled slightly as he made up his mind, handing a small screwdriver to Scott Morgan.
"Mister Morgan, this one's yours."
Scott Morgan sat down at the FDR, easily removed the cover, and set it aside. He saw the keypad: ten numbers, a 'Start' button, a 'Del' for corrections, and a 'Submit.' Once you hit 'Submit,' you were done. It would either open or self-destruct. Captain Harris produced an orange envelope with 'LIBERTY' hand-written on the outside. He opened it carefully. Inside was a bright yellow card with the ten magic digits. He handed it to Scott.
"Don't you want to do it, Captain?"
Harris smiled. "Nope. If you screw it up Morgan, I'll just pretend I wasn't even in the room."
"I appreciate your confidence, sir. Lieutenant Stewart, could you please read the numbers?"
"Sure. Captain, could you read it with me, sir? One five six nine one zero one three five eight."
Harris read the numbers along with Kathy Stewart.
"Those are correct, Lieutenant."
"OK, Scott, you ready?"
"Yep. Pressing Start." Kathy repeated the numbers slowly as Scott pressed the keypad and verified with the display on the FDR.
"OK, Lieutenant Anderson, could you please take the card and check the display on the FDR?" Scott wanted yet another independent set of eyes to check his work. Ron Harris appreciated how careful Morgan was, getting others to verify the entries but remaining in control and responsible for the process.
"The numbers match, Mister Morgan."
"OK - here goes - Submit." As soon as he pressed the button, a tone sounded, and they heard the locks unlatching. They had gotten it open.
Scott gently opened the now-unlocked access door and found the data cable inside, right where it was supposed to be. Pulling out his regular Fleet issue NetComp tablet, he inserted the connector, and the flight data recorder application came up. They could now access all the data stored on the FDR. The first display indicated that they had the full 24 hours of data - good news. From there, he could select which data group to look at - Communications, Sensors, Weapons, Engineering.
He chose a few options on the tablet to display the image on the large monitor on the wall.
Now everyone could see what he was looking at. He leaned back, took a breath, and relaxed slightly that the device was working, and looked at Harris.
"Ok sir, what would you like to do first?"
Harris took out his own tablet. "What time was Carpenter's m
essage?"
"1020," said Chuck Anderson.
"OK, let's open the Engineering logs. He would have been idling in orbit until they saw something. Start around 0930 and see."
Scott swiped and poked until he had the engine data displayed. Slowly he advanced it until..."There! At 1003 the engines go online, and start pulling at one-quarter power, probably moving away from the planet."
Kathy Stewart touched him on the shoulder. "OK...keep going...he goes to one half at 1015...wow...1019 the engine data stops."
"Stops?"
"Yes, sir, it just stops. The data ends at that point."
Scott looked again at the display, but there was no mistaking it.
Harris frowned. "OK, open the scan data and let's start at 0930 again."
Scott opened up three data streams: IR, visual, and radar. He skipped the UV and gamma-ray detectors for the moment.
"0930....scanning...wait...what are those?"
On the screen at 0952 six IR targets came over the planet's horizon.
"What the hell? OK, keep going. Normal speed." Harris kept his eyes locked on the monitor.
"Can we zoom the visual?" Kelly Peterson asked. Scott switched the large image display from IR to visual. There were a few dots visible where the IR targets had appeared.
"Starting to see something, just at the edge of the resolution."
Harris rubbed his chin absentmindedly, eyes still on the monitor. His crew knew he did that when puzzling something he didn't understand.
"OK Scott, let's continue, can you show me visual and IR side by side?"
Scott split the screen left and right so they could directly correlate the IR and visual data. The visual screen now displayed six very obvious dots.
"Those are really bright," Frances observed.
"I see that. Scott, do we have a radar range on those?"
"Yes, sir, radar just came online, two thousand three hundred kilometers."
Harris took his eyes off the screen to look at Scott.
"What?"
"Two thousand three hundred kilometers."
"Jesus Christ those are huge," someone mumbled.
Harris turned his attention back to the screen.
"OK let's go forward in normal time, try to see what they saw."
"Lots of small IR traces down close to the planet, Captain. Look here...and here...and here. Time is 1001."
"This is the start of the attack on Inor?" Frances asked.
"We will need to study this in more detail, but yes that's what I would say," Anderson commented.
"Radar?" Harris asked.
"Yes, sir, numerous objects reentering, and more in a long line behind."
"Weapons status?" he asked. It took a minute for Scott to navigate to the Weapons Status data and get it displayed.
"Weapons are not quite ready. At 0959 they have just commanded the rotaries to open."
They continued to watch the data as it moved ahead in time.
"Now...1001 still...there are IR flashes on the lead ship....at 1002 we have radar showing objects heading for Liberty."
"Which explains engine start. He's been fired on." Harris said, sadly.
"Makes sense," said Scott. He held the data at 1002, looking closer at the radar display.
"OK there's the first launch - eight Lances fired on the lead enemy ship."
"Four inbounds, sir. There are IR plumes so these are rockets, not using Drive. Sensor status shows that Liberty's surveillance monitors were tripped. There would have been an alarm at the Surveillance station."
"Let's move ahead...wow this feels creepy," Ron said.
As the time moved ahead, they could see that the first four shots would miss. Liberty was still accelerating away from the planet and the oncoming enemy. He let the data run in real time.
"1010 - more flashes from the lead ship, or what I think is the lead ship. IR plumes again."
"Radar shows eight incoming missiles...faster than the last ones I think...and they are tracking on Liberty."
They let the data flow for a few more minutes, watching the enemy missiles close in on Liberty, saw the last-minute call for power, then, finally, they understood why the engine data stopped.
"Looks like maybe six or seven hit the Drive. The Nav status loses Drive state at this point."
"So, he has no propulsion?" Harris asked.
"Doesn't look like it, Captain."
"Incredible." Ron just stared at the screen for a few seconds, wondering what it had been like to feel that: to know you were finished, you just weren't dead yet.
"OK, Morgan, lets continue."
"At 1020 he fires eight Lances, four at that lead ship and two each at those big suckers behind it." The data ticked forward. "Wow...where did that come from? The ship just took a hit at 1022, and I didn't see it coming in the data." Morgan was surprised, and it showed in his voice.
"Battle damage?" Ann asked.
"Maybe, but the Comms data ceases at that point. I've been watching as we go along to see what data is still there."
"Continue," Harris said, dreading what was coming.
"1022 he fires another six Lances at the two in back. "
"IR flash on the lead ship at 1023, sir. A Lance. More on the two larger ships right after. Then a huge IR blast from that direction. We'll have to go frame by frame to see it all."
"What's in the radar data?"
"Looks like the big boy on the right blew up, sir. Big boy behind and to the left was also hit just after and blew."
"What the hell are they carrying that is so volatile? And in space no less?" wondered Ann.
"Where are we, Morgan?" Harris asked, sounding tired.
"1023, sir, the two big guys have exploded. The lead ship took a Lance hit but is still coming on. There is so much heat the IR display is totally saturated."
"Radar?"
"Lots and lots of pieces flying around - moving ahead." After another minute Morgan stopped the data. "Oh, crap."
"What?"
"In the radar data, I can see, uh, eight incoming missiles. See?" He got up and went to the large monitor, pointing to the computer's display of eight tracks headed in the general direction of Liberty.
"Time?"
"1025. He fires again at 1026, four Lances, at the lead ship."
"Wait - Carpenter was no fool. Why did he never fire a Spartan?" Roger Cox asked.
"No Spartans on board." was Scott's quiet response.
Harris was shocked. "None?"
"No, sir. The loadout is in the weapons status data. We'll have to ask Operations why that was."
"Wait!" Lieutenant Anderson started. "Liberty was ship number three. I seem to recall that she needed a magazine overhaul to be able to take Spartans. She has the old four rotaries, too. After overhaul, she'd have two rotaries twice the size."
Harris grunted. "Oh, right, I remember that now, so, he had no defense at all. How awful...OK...continue."
"OK sir 1028 and there are more inbounds, looks like another eight. Enemy seems to like even numbers. Liberty fires again, four Lances at the back ships."
"1029 now - Lance hits on the back two ships. In the visual looks like pieces coming off."
"Can we zoom in on the visual? I'd like to see what we're up against." Elias Peña asked.
"Sure, sir...there." Displayed on the monitor was a shiny, almost polished surface of a cylindrical vessel.
"Morgan, which one is this?"
"Lead ship - you can see the Lance hit to the upper right."
"Can you tell how big it is?"
"Liberty's computer says five hundred meters. It said the bigger ones were eight hundred meters long, maybe one seventy-five across."
"What the hell were they carrying? And why did it explode?" asked Cooper.
There were no answers.
"OK, let's finish the run. Go ahead, Morgan."
"Sir, at 1030 there are now sixteen inbound missiles. Liberty's computer is screaming alarms. At 1035 the radar loses track at abou
t a kilometer and then the data goes offline. All of it."
They stared at the frozen last images from Liberty.
"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick." Scott Morgan mumbled sadly.
"Get in line, man, get in line," Jackson said, still looking at the display.
They were quiet for a full minute. Ron then sat down, indicated to Scott to turn off the display.
"OK, folks we will get the full report off the recorder tomorrow. Elias, I'd like you to work with Kathy and Scott on the enemy vessels themselves. See if you can tell what they're made of and what the hell blew up."
Peña nodded his agreement. Ann Cooper got out of her chair and walked to the front of the room.
"Do we all understand what we've seen here? Liberty was at rest, half asleep, really, expecting nothing, but in a half hour from a standing start she destroyed at least two enemy ships and damaged three more."
"And if that was an invasion force," Frances added, "the battle at Inor was not the disaster we've thought but was actually a victory."
"With a heavy cost." Kelly Peterson added.
There was another long silence.
"You have to tell them, Ron, you have to brief the survivors," Elias Peña said.
Harris nodded slowly, leaning forward in his chair, head in hands. "Everyone thinks Carpenter lost the battle. He didn’t."
"Yeah, after we debrief them, we'll get them together and let them know what happened. Speaking of which, Elias, I want you to run the debriefs, with Tim and Kelly. I don't think they really know much, but get their stories on the record, and anything else they might think would be helpful. We're obligated to talk to them but make it easy. Get with Terri Michael and get started tomorrow. I want them done by Monday so we can cut them loose."
Harris leaned back in his chair, suddenly feeling very tired. He had just watched how his friends and some classmates had died a violent death. They were all very quiet.
"OK enough for now," he said, finally. "I'll put it back in the safe in my office."
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