by Dietmar Wehr
“Com, notify each ship as it emerges that we seem to be in a strong gravity field and they’re to hold position as best they can while we figure out what’s going on.”
“We’re reversing thrust, Captain. I’m also picking up two…no, three repeating transmitter signals,” said the Helm Officer. Hardesty watched as the primary display switched back to tactical with three yellow dots denoting the signal sources.
“Two of them appear to be stationary, and one of those is quite close by. Permission to scan with radar?” asked the HO.
“Granted,” said Hardesty. She heard the Tactical Officer grunt as he monitored his console.
“It’s a very small object. Smaller than a standard shuttle. I suspect it’s a drone used to mark the location of this wormhole.”
“The other stationary one is probably a marker drone too,” said the HO. “It would be in about the right location for a wormhole to AG38. The third one’s moving and relatively fast too.”
“Captain Steele must have deployed them when he passed through this system,” said Hardesty. She looked at the Helm Officer. “How are we doing with the gravity field, Helm?”
“We’ve stopped all forward motion now, Captain. AstroComp has an answer, but I don’t think you’re going to like it. It says the source of the gravity is a black hole that’s approximately three point five kilometers wide. That tiny circle of light that we saw visually is the gravity lens effect as the black hole bends light around it as it passes by.”
“Pass that data to the other ships, Helm. When all five of us are holding a stable position, I’ll decide how to proceed. In the meantime, figure out how to rendezvous with the moving signal so that we can maintain position on it.”
“Understood, Captain.”
She leaned back in her chair and nodded. A black hole with something orbiting it? No wonder Steele had taken the less risky route back to Caledonia with that news.
Catching up with the moving signal turned out to be a complicated process taking hours. Each destroyer had to devote so much of its EG drive thrust just to keep from being pulled into the black hole that adjusting velocity and bearing to pull up close to the signal source in the same orbit took almost 21 hours. As soon as Iroquois was within radar range, Hardesty ordered active scanning. Just as she suspected, the transmitter was attached to some kind of ship. The return radar signal didn’t resemble that from any known human-designed ship. As the slowly tumbling image grew more visible on the main display at the squadron’s approach, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It had to be an alien ship! Her mind was a whirl of thoughts. Should she send people to try to board it? Should she send a ship back to Paradyne with the news right away or wait until after Steele’s ship came back? Taking him on with four destroyers instead of five entailed more risk. Did that part of the mission even matter anymore? What if Steele came back with additional HRCN ships backing him up? Then there’d be no question of attacking the Diamond K. So many questions!
“Captain! Multiple targeting radars hitting us! Incoming miss—” Her Tactical Officer’s warning was too late as Iroquois, and the other four Tribal-class destroyers exploded in nuclear fireballs after being hit by five missiles.
Steele told his body to relax as Diamond K emerged into the black hole system. There was no danger of being pulled into the abyss because her entry velocity was low enough that her EG drive could bring her to a stop relative to the black hole. But even as his body relaxed, he started to tense up again. Where was the derelict? Not only was the K not picking up any signal from the derelict’s transmitter, but the long-range detection system also wasn’t picking it up either. The alien ship was gone!
“Any chance it could have fallen into the star, Helm?”
Ortega shrugged. “NavComp says no, but that’s assuming that the black hole’s gravity is stable. No one knows for sure if that’s the case.”
“Are we holding position?” asked Steele.
“Yes, sir.”
“Is the new system working properly?” asked Steele.
“System diagnostics check out, Skipper,” said TO Sanchez. “It’s picking up both Bravo drones.”
Steele shook his head in disbelief. “It has to be gone completely. That’s why we’re not picking up the transmitter either but how? If the gravity field is stable, how can a derelict ship with a dead crew just disappear?”
“Somebody could have towed it away just like we intended to,” said Chilton, who was standing beside Steele’s Command chair.
Steele looked at his XO with a thoughtful expression. “There are only two possibilities. Either someone saw us emerge into AG47 and sent a ship or group of ships to see where we had come from and when they found the derelict, they towed it into the connecting super-giant system or…the derelict was recovered by members of the race that built it. And if that’s the case, then the bravos we left behind to mark the wormholes have shown them how to get to human space.”
Chilton nodded slowly. “If it’s the latter, then I don’t see what we can do to recover the derelict, but if it’s other human ships that have taken it, we might still be able to catch up with them on their way to AG47 in the connecting system.”
“You’re right XO, but before we check that out, I want to send a Bravo drone to AG38 with an update for Admiral Hara. You get the drone ready. I’ll get the update done. Let’s do this fast, XO.”
The drone was launched thirteen minutes later. Steele watched it accelerate as it headed for the wormhole entrance. Because of the close proximity to the wormhole at launch, the drone wouldn’t have a lot of time to build velocity, and therefore its transit would take almost 34 hours, but that couldn’t be helped. As soon as the drone disappeared from view, Diamond K headed for the wormhole that led to the alternate path the ship had taken home just a few weeks before. With plenty of room to build up velocity, the ship entered that wormhole at a relatively high speed. Transit time would be just under 90 minutes. Steele was hoping that his ship would arrive in the other system before the derelict did. There had been instances where one ship passed another while in a wormhole, and there was at least one confirmed example of two ships moving through a wormhole in opposite directions at the same time. No one knew what the odds were of colliding with a ship coming the other way. Steele shuddered at the thought of a collision under those circumstances.
The Diamond K was at full Battle Stations when it emerged into the system that had been unofficially nicknamed Midi. It only took a few seconds for Steele to realize that the long-range detection system was showing no other ships. Helm Officer Ortega had already calculated that if the derelict had already been in transit to Midi while Diamond K was moving through the wormhole in the direction of the black hole system, it should still have been here. There hadn’t been enough time to move the derelict to the wormhole leading to AG47. The conclusion was self-evident. Ortega articulated it anyway.
“They didn’t come through Midi, Skipper.”
“No,” agreed Steele, “and that supports the theory that whoever took the derelict isn’t human and therefore took it through some other wormhole that we haven’t found yet. Turn us around, Helm. We’re heading back to the black hole and then AG38.”
The return trip was frustratingly longer in order to avoid plunging down the black hole’s gravity well too fast to recover from. At least they’d be able to make the transit to AG38 quickly.
Lavrov was contemplating the chessboard displayed on one of the smaller screens at his Command Station. His game with his XO was not going well, and he had a hunch that he would end up tipping his King over soon. Playing against Captain Steele had been a refreshing change of pace. Steele had a less-focused style of play compared to his XO’s ‘go for the jugular’ approach that the officer knew irritated his Captain. Lavrov turned off the screen and sighed. He could have stayed in his quarters since Captains do not have to stand Bridge watches on a regular basis although many, including Lavrov, did to keep in regular contact with the crew. He
was just about to inform the TO that the officer had the con when the tactical display pinged a status change and a yellow icon appeared at the location of the wormhole. Lavrov held his breath as he waited for TacComp to declare the new contact to be a friendly ship.
“Unknown ship emerging from the wormhole, Captain. No ID signal,” said the TO.
Lavrov felt a shiver go down his spine as he realized this wasn’t a friendly ship and that left just one possible explanation.
“Go to Battle Stations,” he said in what he hoped was a calm voice.
“Going to Battle Stations!” acknowledged the TO.
Lavrov turned to the Com Officer. “Alert the Admiral that an unknown ship has emerged from our wormhole. Add that I intend to—” The wail of the damage alarm cut him off.
“LASER FIRE! HULL BREACHES IN DECK’S THREE AND FOUR!” shouted the TO.
“Return fire!” shouted Lavrov. He looked back at the shocked expression on the Com Officer’s face. “Tell Relentless we’re under attack! Helm! Take evasive action!”
Checking the ship’s systems status board, Lavrov groaned as green lights for various systems began turning to red. Vanquisher was already hurt bad, and it was starting to affect her ability to fight back.
“A and B turrets have fired! C turret is damaged! All missile tubes ready to fire, sir!”
Lavrov knew that missiles would not determine the outcome of this battle. Despite the relatively short range between the two ships and the short time of flight of any missiles Vanquisher might launch now, lasers were much faster and at this range much deadlier. That didn’t mean he shouldn’t give the order to fire his missiles. It only meant that doing so wouldn’t save his ship. If he was really lucky, it might inflict a lot of damage on the alien ship, which is what that ship had to be.
“Fire missiles!” Lavrov closed his eyes and mentally said the prayer that he had hoped he would never have to say while part of his awareness listened as the TO reported more hits.
Hara was standing next to the Com Officer’s station having a casual chat with the officer on Com duty when she heard the status update ping.
“Look’s like Diamond K is back already, Admiral,” said Helm Officer Simonsen.
Hara frowned. It had been two days since Mac and the K had dropped into the wormhole. Surely the inspection of the derelict couldn’t have been finished so quickly. The answer would have to wait almost 13 minutes for any message to be transmitted across 9.3 light minutes to the relay ship Conquistador and then across the remaining 3.6 light minutes to Relentless. That was the frustrating downside of the new long-range detection system. It detected ships in real time at fantastic distances, but communications were still just as slow.
“I hope Captain Steele didn’t lose the derelict,” she said. That got a few chuckles from some of the others. She turned her attention back to the Com Officer. “So how old are your children now, Isaac?”
The Lieutenant Commander had just finished talking about his oldest child and was about to start talking about the next oldest when Hara heard a double ping that meant only one thing. Her quick look at the holographic display confirmed it. Vanquisher’s icon had just disappeared. Diamond K was still there, but as she watched, it too disappeared. What the hell was going on? If Mac had found something in the black hole system and needed Vanquisher’s help, what was so urgent that they couldn’t wait half an hour for a message to reach her and for her reply to get back to him? She had a feeling that whatever had just happened was not good news.
“Ah, Admiral?” Hara looked at the Com Officer. “Broadsword Actual is requesting visual com.”
Hara nodded. “Put her on your display, Isaac.”
“Let me guess, Elon. You’re calling about what just happened with Vanquisher and Diamond K, right?” asked Hara.
“That’s correct, Admiral. Should I be sending my ship to a higher level of alert?”
Hara was reluctant to admit that she didn’t know. Admirals were always expected to know what to do. Admitting otherwise might shake subordinates’ faith in their mental powers.
“No. That would be premature. The squadron will stay at Condition Three for now. I’m confident that Mac…Captain Steele or Captain Lavrov will have sent a message to Conquistador before they headed into the wormhole.”
“Yes, that makes sense. If they needed our help against some new threat, I don’t see why they would rush to head back to the black hole system. My guess is that Captain Steele discovered something pretty damn exciting. Maybe another derelict or something that was in danger of being pulled into the black hole and he needed Vanquisher’s help to prevent that.”
“Anything is possible where that black hole is concerned,” conceded Hara but she doubted that Captain Hollister’s conjecture was correct. “But let’s not jump to conclusions before we get the message.”
“I agree,” said Hollister. “I should have waited longer before contacting you.”
“No harm done, Captain. As soon as I know what’s going on, I’ll share that intel with the squadron. Was there anything else?”
“No, Admiral.”
“Fine. Until later then. Hara out.”
When there were just two minutes left of the 13-minute message lag time, Hara jumped in surprise as she heard the unique warning sound from the TO’s console, that she had only ever heard in simulated scenarios.
“Nuclear detonation!” yelled the wide-eyed Roark. He quickly scanned his console and Hara saw him frown. “My God, this can’t be right, Admiral. TacComp is telling me that a nuclear explosion happened right where Vanquisher was holding station. The bearing is exact, and the lag time for the light and radiation to reach us is correct down to the micro-second.” He looked up at Hara. “Vanquisher seems to have exploded.”
Hara felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up. There was now only one explanation that made any sense at all. Vanquisher had to have been attacked by missiles armed with nuclear warheads fired from the ship that had just emerged from the wormhole. And since nuclear warheads on ship-fired missiles had been outlawed by unanimous consent of all human star nations, that meant the attacker had to be alien.
“All ships to Battle Stations,” she said in a voice that now had a hard edge to it. “That includes Conquistador and the cruisers too. Notify Conquistador that the squadron will be heading for Vanquisher’s wormhole shortly. She’s to hold her position for now. Com, I want a conference call with all squadron COs. Audio only,” she added after realizing that her hands were trembling. It wasn’t fear. She knew that with certainty. It was just pure nervousness. Fighting King Pierre’s Navy had become almost routine in terms of her reaction to it. If humans now had a hostile alien race to deal with, that was a whole different ballgame. And even though she knew it wasn’t fear making her hands shake, any of the Captains who might notice it from a visual hookup could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. It didn’t take long to set up the call. When the Com Officer turned and pointed to her, she cleared her throat before speaking.
“This is Hara. It appears that Vanquisher has exploded in a nuclear detonation. Attack from nuclear-tipped missiles is the only possible explanation. Those missiles had to have come from the ship that emerged from the wormhole only minutes before. Given that the HRCN is the only human navy that knows about the black hole system, I’m forced to conclude that we’ve just witnessed the first attack by an alien race. If we had recon drones of our own, we could reconnoiter Vanquisher’s last known position to see if that are any lifeboats, but we don’t so we’re going to have to look ourselves. The entire squadron will proceed to her last known position. The cruisers and Conquistador will remain where they are for now. Any questions?”
“Shouldn’t we send a ship back to Base with the news, Admiral?” Hara recognized Hollister’s voice.
“I will as soon as I know for sure what the status of Vanquisher’s crew is. Once we’ve determined that, I’ll send a cruiser home with my preliminary report. What else?”
“Will a battlecruiser be assigned to take Vanquisher’s place?” asked Chivalrous’ CO.
“That decision has not been made yet, but if I take that action, the ship will stand off at extreme radar range of the wormhole and will remain stealthy. Anything else?” After waiting ten seconds with no additional questions, she took a deep breath before speaking. “Inform your crews with what we know so far. As more information arrives, it’ll be passed on. That’s all for now. Hara clear.”
“Admiral?” said the Com Officer. “Conquistador has relayed a voice transmission from Vanquisher’s Com Officer.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“VANQUISHER IS UNDER LASER ATTACK BY AN UNKNOWN SHIP! REPEAT! VANQUISHER IS UNDER ATTACK BY UNKNOWN SHIP!” Hara could hear the panic in the Com Officer’s voice. In the background she heard Lavrov give the order to fire missiles then the transmission ended. Is that why they fired nukes at him because he fired missiles at them first and they had no way of knowing that his missiles only had kinetic-energy warheads?