by Chris Hechtl
“Then jump,” Captain Perth ordered.
Qilaq was riding as secondary helm for the moment. She watched as an observer like the rest of the bridge crew as Tumilak expertly took the ship into hyperspace. He cut a clean line without deviation since they had two ships trailing them.
“Secure from sublight travel. Status?” the XO asked.
“All clear,” Percy said over the intercom. “Sublight engines secured and powered down. Wedge is good; hyperdrive is purring like a kitten. We're golden,” he said.
“Thank you for that concise report,” the XO said tartly.
“We get the gist of it though,” Captain Perth said, interrupting the XO's desire to rip the chief engineer about protocol. “Let's keep things professional, shall we?” he said in reminder.
“Aye aye, sir,” both officers said in unison.
“First octave stable. We're ready to begin translation on your mark, sir,” Lieutenant Brock stated.
“Then by all means, let's do so.”
“Aye aye, sir. Helm, follow the ball. Translation in three … two … one …”
Tumilak applied power to the hyperdrive and initiated additional compression. The ship moved up an octave to hyperspace. Suddenly the helm seemed to move at a faster rate.
“Hephaestus and FR11339 are keeping pace with us nicely,” CIC reported after a moment.
“It is going to be at least two minutes before we can jump the next octave,” Percy stated over the intercom.
“Try five minutes,” Lieutenant Brock stated.
“Why? Not ready yet?” Percy demanded.
“I'm fine. The other ships are slower to charge though,” Lieutenant Brock explained. “They have more energy reserves than we do but it's constricted and you can't make hyper-capacitors charge too fast.”
“I know,” Percy growled.
“Enough,” the skipper said in a flat voice.
Qilaq decided it was going to be an interesting shift. Hopefully, people would settle down soon.
~<><{<^>}><>~
After the ship stabilized in hyperspace and began to climb the octaves to the higher bands, Horatio buckled down and did his best to study Bek's rich history. Bek and Nuevo had been deleted from every other database. He had Admiral Irons’ copy of their history up until and during the admiral's time in Bek, but it was very basic.
He was looking forward to reading about Bek's history after the admiral had left, especially their history of their navy and how it had evolved over the centuries. But as he delved into it, he found that there wasn't much to see, and some of what he did see didn't make any sense. There were gaping holes and inconsistencies in what he'd been told and what he found.
Some of the historical files were labeled as classified. That didn't make sense. “Curiouser and curiouser,” he murmured thoughtfully. He applied his classification keys but found once he got into them that the files were mostly empty. Headers, a bit of nondescript template files, and little more. No substance. Some of the files he accessed had great swaths of redacted material in them which made them even more useless to him. What was the point of classifying a file and then redacting most of it so it was unreadable? Or vice versa? It didn't make any sense.
He turned his attention to the designs. If he had some more luck there, he could look into what could be upgraded or what had to be scrapped. But again his efforts were mostly thwarted.
A lot of the data came from Caroline's Tactical Department he found. The downloads from Bek were a joke. There was stark data on the fortress and ships designs. Barely any specs, just classes. No information about their weapons, drives, shields … almost utterly useless. The files didn't even have images in them so he could look for himself. He managed to cross what Caroline's tactical department had observed with the files from Bek and fill in a few of the blanks, but he didn't have a clue on the actual specs involved. Power? The weapon mix? He shook his head. He wasn't certain how much of it was true and accurate. He didn't trust any of it.
In the end, he turned to Admiral Zekowitz in frustration to interpret it all. “It is … complicated,” Zek said.
“That's what I'm gathering. I'm getting the whole security vibe here. I'm guessing someone didn't trust Caroline and decided to hold out?” he asked.
Zek nodded slowly. “That's pretty much how it went,” he said slowly.
“I see,” Horatio said. “So, can you fill in any blanks? Or are they classified?” he asked. “Which ships did you work on? Serve on?”
“I'm afraid the details are still classified, Horatio,” Zek said with a frown. When he saw Horatio's answering frown, he held up his hands. “Sorry, that's how it is. Once we're in Bek, we can straighten it out. But …,” he exhaled heavily.
“I'm trying to figure out what we can transfer over and what we will have to replace part wise. Any ideas there? In general?”
“Well,” Zek frowned thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. “I'm pretty sure just about everything. Power train, shields, and gravitics obviously,” he said. Horatio nodded. “Sensors … computers … I'm not sure about armor, but I'm not holding out any hopes after seeing everything there was to see in Pyrax,” he said ruefully.
“Some of the basics should be comparable. Bolts, nuts, wiring … I mean you started with Federation standards, right? Did you go off spec?”
“No, no, that we kept. I suppose you are right there. The specs on small things will be the same and the same for basics like toilets and so on.”
“Okay,” Horatio said with a nod. “I suppose it's a start.”
“I know it's not the start you wanted.”
“If I'd known this earlier, I would have called Admiral Irons and asked him. This is …,” Horatio waved a hand in frustration.
“I know. Trust takes time to build. So …”
“So, what can you tell me?” Horatio asked, sitting back.
“Well,” Zek thought about it and then shrugged. He told the commodore stories of his time in the navy, starting with his perceptions as a child, then when he was in the academy. He kept the stories brief though, just general anecdotes about his life and career.
It didn't help Horatio as much as he'd thought it would. He couldn't get a handle on the navy. He was impressed by the size. He did pick up on the various branches and that Zek was something of an outsider even in the engineering community.
That troubled him.
Chapter 12
Once the ships were underway, Horatio and Admiral Zekowitz started to hit it off in a series of working lunches. “Call me, Zek. I hate being called Melvin or Mel,” the rear admiral said once he finished his sandwich. He dusted his hands of crumbs. “We're going to be working a lot together, might as well get that behind us now and move on to more important stuff.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me. We are fellow flag officers. Leave the stuffed shirt protocol nonsense at the door when we're in private, Horatio,” the rear admiral said. Horatio blinked then nodded slowly. “Better. I'm a fellow officer, though I admit I've had a different upbringing.” He spread his hands in supplication. “That can't be helped. But we will get what needs to be done, done and done right. Right?”
“Yes, sir. That we will,” Horatio vowed. He cocked his head. “I mean, Zek,” he said with a trace of a smile. He admitted it was hard. Hopefully, it would get easier with time. He still felt uncomfortable calling Admiral Irons “John.”
“Good. Now,” the admiral kicked back. “Why don't we see what you can do to help me get up to speed? I love tech; it's why I got into engineering. I'm normally hands-on; they dragged me kicking and screaming up the chain of command,” he admitted.
Horatio grinned. “I know another officer who has the same complaint. We need that sort of grit.” He nodded. “Okay. Shall we start with hyperdrives?”
“I know the theory of course. I cut my teeth on R&D after serving a few tours in ship engineering positions. But …,” the rear admiral shrugged. “The details elude me of course. I probably
should’ve stayed in Pyrax or gone with Yorgi to Antigua to get full flag officer implants. But …,” he sighed. “I know I'm going to be needed in Bek to interpret for you. And I know the people there. I can smooth crap over before it becomes a problem when it comes to ruffled feathers.”
“And you're not an outsider lording over them?” Horatio asked carefully.
The rear admiral nodded. “Exactly,” he said. “You've been picking up on things I take it?” That made him feel a bit better. Given that Horatio was a sleeper, he had to have been familiar with politics within the Federation military before and during the Xeno war. He wasn't sure much had changed in Bek. As long as Horatio kept his head down, he should be fine he thought to himself.
“I've tried. I've had a hell of a time running things in Pyrax. When you get thrown into that sort of political snake pit, you have to learn to fend them off or get torn apart.”
“And obviously since you are here, you did your best fending them off. Good to know, Horatio. Okay, then, the construction steps. The basics I think I've got, but we'll have to go over them eventually. I think I can skip the details since I won't be involved there. But since I've got the implant keys like you, we can work on what priorities to hit and when,” he said.
“Understood,” Horatio replied. He pulled up an exploded diagram of a basic hyperdrive and then started to highlight components. “Some components are easier than others of course. What I was doing when the admiral was gone was to build what I could with the keys I had—the common parts that wouldn't trip any alarms in the replicators. Then we could fit them as needed or even remanufacture them in the field as needed.”
The rear admiral nodded, eyes on the diagram. “Go on,” he said, wiggling his fingers for Horatio to continue.
“Right. Some parts are harder to manufacture than others. They require different materials, and a lot of tolerances are just … tight. Pico level in some cases,” he said with a grimace. “Some things have to be watched on a molecular level to get it right. Hence the A.I. we've got on board to keep an eye on the quality control.”
“I see,” the admiral said softly. “We knew the theory of course but were taking a brute force approach.”
“Which might have worked eventually if you'd recreated what the Terrans and other star faring species had done during their initial days of exploration I suppose,” the commodore replied. “It wouldn’t have been pretty, and you would most likely have lost a ship or two. They would have been slow, but eventually, you would have been able to learn from them and improve future generations.”
“Thanks for that,” the admiral said wryly. “I don't need any ego stroking though.”
“No, sir. Just stating what I see is a fact,” Horatio said with a smile.
“Okay, so … priorities?”
“Well …”
~<><{<^>}><>~
Horatio smiled at the familiar Neochimp couple as they hesitantly entered the wardroom. Both were in civilian dress, but he'd expected it. Neither had ever truly served in their reserve rank.
“Come in,” Rear Admiral Zek said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He eyed the pair as he finished preparing his cup. He glanced at them as they held hands briefly and then took a seat opposite where Horatio and his empty chair sat.
The meeting seemed confrontational and in a way it was. He wanted to get a feel for them, to draw them out. They'd also made a few proposals that he was going to have to deal with. They deserved straight answers from him.
From the look of it, the Neochimp male had a mixed heritage. He had the earmarks of a gorilla in some of his features, most noticeably the shape of his skull and his large frame. He'd seen large Neochimps, but he was massive. He had a battered brown sweater on over his plaid shirt and khaki pants. Something told him the chimp would be more comfortable in coveralls, but he hadn't been consulted on what to wear.
His lips twitched in a brief smile at that thought. He'd read a little bit about Galiet. She'd gotten her double doctorates in hyperspace and physics and seemed to rule their household with an iron fist. She'd worked her way up to helm the physic's chair at Anvil College in a very short time. It was an impressive achievement.
“Now that we're on board and underway, I figured we'd sit down and meet each of you. Sort of break the ice,” Admiral Zek said. “I understand you already know the commodore,” he said with a nod to Horatio. “But for the record, I met your wife and kids,” he said, looking at the Neochimp couple.
“Yes, sir, she told us,” Galiet said with a nod and brief smile. “Thanks for helping to wrangle the brat pack,” she said.
“Wait, no one told me,” Bailey said accusingly, shooting a glower at Galiet. He turned back to the admiral. “Which wife, sir?”
“Wait, you've got more than …,” Zek frowned then remembered who he was talking with. He nodded. “Sorry, I must be slow this morning. Of course you do.”
“So …?”
“Another Neochimp. I don't remember her name, sorry,” Zek replied.
“Ah. Clennie,” Bailey said with a nod. “I'll have to have a chat with her,” he said.
“She's not on board …,” Horatio reminded him.
“I know that, sir. I still like to be kept on board,” Bailey said.
“Why? You're usually befuddled and clueless anyway,” Galiet teased.
“Hush you,” he growled mockingly at her. He turned to the other officers. “Do you know how long we're going to be in Bek, sir? And when it will be open to send for family? If it ever will be that is?”
Zek coughed into his hand as Horatio turned an inquiring look at him. He shrugged after an uncomfortable moment. “Don't look at me! I don't know. Honest,” he said, spreading his hands in supplication. “It is priority base travel of course. I didn't know though that you two were considering staying on,” he said, eyeing the Neochimp husband and wife.
“We're not. At least I didn't think so,” Galiet, said, eyeing her husband.
He shrugged smirking slightly. “Now who's out of the loop? Clennie asked me to ask just in case.”
“Really,” Galiet drawled eyeing him with a moderate reproving glower.
“You can check with her when we have regular communications,” Bailey said with a smug return smile.
“Don't worry, I will,” Galiet said, making it sound like a threat.
“Now who's not happy about being kept in the dark?” Bailey asked, eyeing her.
“Hey, that's your default setting,” she said.
“True. Husband, provider, scapegoat, punching bag, father …”
“Walking disaster area, jungle gym, overgrown kid, filth generator …,” she grinned. “Shall I go on?”
“Let's not,” Horatio said dryly as Bailey opened his mouth to retort. “I understand you wanted access to Caroline's hyperspace log?”
Galiet nodded, turning her attention to the commodore. “Yes, sir. I tried to get her last two logs as well but ran into a mountain of red tape. I was hoping now that we're on board I could get it straight from the source.”
“For …”
“I want to study the rapids. Specifically, how the gravitational anomalies in subspace are forming grave shadows and grav sheer in hyperspace. I'd love to see if I could reverse plot the objects, get a scale for them, and see what is causing them.”
“I believe there have been science ships that have studied it,” Zek replied.
Galiet turned her wise brown eyes to him. “That may be, sir, but we're not in possession of that data unfortunately. So, we might have some of their conclusions, but not the raw data explaining how they got to them or why. And obviously things can change over the centuries. I've also been trying to get access to the raw data from before the Xeno war but I've been stymied.”
“That's because all mention of the Bek nexus and the rapids were deleted,” Horatio explained.
Galiet blinked. “I didn't … I mean, I knew something was up when I didn't find anything …,” she frowned ferociously.
; “It was for security reasons,” Horatio explained. “The Federation redoubt project during the Xeno war.”
“So, it's not just classified, it is gone?”
“The only copy we've managed to get is from Admiral Irons himself. He went there and set-up Bek and Nuevo as a redoubt and started Bek's navy,” Admiral Zekowitz explained patiently.
“But he had something to go on, the navigational data on the rapids, sir?” Galiet said as her husband sat back and watched her.
“I believe so,” Horatio said slowly. He nodded as he accessed the files. “He had to have had it since Caroline couldn't have made the run in the rapids without a destination point,” he said.
“So, if I could have that?” Galiet asked.
“It's classified,” Zek said with a note of disapproval in his voice. Galiet frowned. “We do not want it getting out. The fact that Bek and Nuevo do exist is enough. The data on how to get into the nexus must remain classified. You don't have the clearance,” he said, eyeing her.
“Yes, sir,” Galiet said. “But I do have a need to know if I want to find a smoother route or possibly alter the path …”
“You'll have to submit those requests to Admiral Irons I'm afraid. I think we can give you access to some of Caroline's raw sensor data but not her navigational data or markings,” Horatio said.
“Um …,” Galiet frowned.
“Take what you can get or nothing at all, Lieutenant,” Admiral Zekowitz said in a clear put down.
Slowly Galiet nodded. “Yes, sir.” She was clearly unhappy but she knew better than to object further.
“Now, we were talking about the plan to upgrade Bek's shipyard. I understand you don't have any experience in yard work,” he said, indicating Bailey. “Beyond some light troubleshooting,” he said.
“No, sir.”
“But you do. You've had experience in theory and in some hyperdrive trouble shooting,” he said, indicating Galiet. She nodded. “Okay. And you both have some codes.”
“Yes, sir. We are reservists though. Admiral Irons sent an update so we can use more keys in our fields, but it won't be enough to, you know, scratch build a hyperdrive or something,” Bailey said.