“Exactly that.”
“We’ve got plenty of time to work on the problem, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.”
Griffin pursed his lips. “There’s nothing in the accessible area of the neural framework to indicate which subsystems of the ship are off-bounds.”
“Except for large parts of the propulsion monitoring system, which we know about because I can’t see the expected data on my console. One thing I confirmed is that the vantrium drive doesn’t require refueling. It’s incredible.”
“At the moment, I’m interested in the propulsion readings, Lieutenant. What information would you normally obtain from them?” asked Griffin. “Aside from potential faults.”
“Mostly I watch the output data, sir. If it fluctuates, I can estimate a divergence from the predicted arrival time and I can introduce modifications.”
“In other words, if we’re synchronized with a fleet you do what you can to ensure that we’re not late or early.”
“As best I can, sir.”
“And you can’t see this data, so we have no way to be sure one way or another if we’re going too fast or too slow.”
“That’s right.”
Griffin’s scalp prickled and he wanted to scratch it. The life support systems had brought the temperature and air composition to a state which could sustain a human or Fangrin, but Griffin wasn’t prepared to take his flight helmet off yet.
“If the Nullifier arrived late or early it wouldn’t be important one way or the other, would it? Not in this instance.”
“I guess not,” said Kroll. “What are you getting at, sir?”
“Magnitude and direction,” said Griffin, not answering directly.
“Magnitude you can get from the engine output,” said Kroll. “Assuming you know how long the lightspeed drive will run for.”
“The time to engine shutoff is a product of the output, isn’t it? At least the way we do it on a ULAF spaceship.”
“We can either go by output or we can enter a journey time and have the navigational system match the output to ensure we arrive in the required duration. Assuming you don’t do something stupid like try to fly across ten galaxies in two minutes.”
“Do we have access to the direction?” asked Griffin.
“No, sir. Once you input the direction into the navigational computer there’s no way to change that mid-flight. You either shut the lightspeed drive off early or you accept the destination you entered right at the beginning.”
“On a ULAF ship, how do we know if there’s a fault in the direction?”
“You know this, sir. The navigational system plots an overlay on the charts.”
“Lieutenant Dominguez, do we have such an overlay on the Nullifier?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“This navigational system is just different, sir. We enter the same parameters, but the monitoring isn’t the same.”
“There’s no way to obtain a direction overlay?”
“No, sir.”
“Does that seem unusual?”
“Judged from my experience with our own kit, yes it does.”
“Because the crew of any spaceship capable of flying across vast regions of space need to know exactly where it’s going. This is vital, critical information and for some reason it’s not available on the Nullifier.”
“Yes, sir. I should have taken more notice.”
“What if the crew on this ship was always intended to be secondary, sir?” asked Jackson. “You talked with the control entity and it only told you part of the story. Now it won’t speak, but it hasn’t disappeared. Why would that be?”
Griffin didn’t answer. “If we cut the lightspeed engines, how long would it take to recalculate our position?”
“That depends, sir,” said Shelton. “The screen shots of our star charts we got from the Westarion were only relevant at Glesia. If we exited lightspeed here, we’d be required to use long-distance sensor sweeps to obtain our position.”
“How long?”
“Hours.”
“Not days?”
“Probably not, sir.”
“Why should we exit lightspeed?” asked Kenyon.
“I am not convinced we’re going to the place we intended, Lieutenant.”
“The evidence for that isn’t exactly compelling, sir.”
“I agree. However, this is the biggest damn warship any of us has ever seen. It was hostile when we found it and with a Sekar wrapped around its hull. On top of that, the control computer is hiding stuff from us. I don’t think I’m being too sensitive here.”
“Let’s do it then, sir. What do we have to lose other than a few hours?”
Griffin returned to his seat and fastened the lap belt. “Make Captain Conway aware.”
“Done, sir.”
“Lieutenant Kroll – shut off the vantrium drive.”
“Shutting off the main drive,” said Kroll.
The humming of the propulsion didn’t change, nor did Griffin notice a bump that might indicate reentry into local space.
“Lieutenant?”
“I’ve sent the command, sir. It’s not responding.”
“Try again.”
“Nothing.”
“This proves something, doesn’t it?” said Jackson.
“Yeah it proves we’re being screwed over by a warship,” said Shelton. “Like it wasn’t enough to have every biological alien in the universe stabbing us in the back – now we have their warships doing the same.”
Captain Isental hadn’t spoken for some time and Griffin caught his expression. The Fangrin’s eyes glowed behind his visor.
“Danger comes, human. We must prepare ourselves for it.”
Griffin was already feeling jumpy and this talk of unknown threats made it worse. He got on the comms and ordered Conway to prepare. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Kroll didn’t slow in his efforts to shut down the vantrium drive.
The humming of the propulsion suddenly dropped to a much lower level than previously.
“You did it.”
“No, sir, that wasn’t me. The drive just switched to its normal phase. We’re entering local space.”
“What are we getting into this time?” Griffin asked. “Be ready for anything.”
The sensor feeds went blank and the instrumentation on his console went momentarily crazy. Then it settled. Griffin took hold of the interface bar and readied himself for evasive maneuvers. Nobody said a word as they waited for the sensor feeds to adjust and show them the place they’d arrived.
Chapter Sixteen
“Energy shield active and online, sir,” said Kroll. “Vantrium drive at one hundred percent.”
The sensor feeds came to life, though they didn’t give away much.
“Space, stars,” said Griffin. “Get me something to work with, folks.”
“Local sensor sweep clear,” said Shelton. “There’s nothing in our immediate vicinity. I’ll work on our positioning.”
“Far scan ongoing,” said Dominguez.
“Lieutenant Kenyon – do we have any open receptors within range?”
“No, sir. The comms are quiet.”
“The star patterns get a match in the Nullifier’s database, sir,” said Shelton.
Captain Isental made the connection. “If it matches the onboard database, we aren’t anywhere close to Fangrin or ULAF territory.” He growled. “My apologies.”
“What for?” asked Griffin, caught off guard.
“This is your mission, human.”
“It’s everyone’s mission. You’re not treading on toes, Captain Isental. If you have something to say, please say it at once.”
Griffin realized that with so much on his plate, he’d overlooked Isental’s reluctance to speak. He’d already guessed the Fangrin had a code which prevented them from stealing someone else’s thunder, but he was beginning to see how pervasive it was.
“Please,” Griffin repeated. “I want your reassurance.”<
br />
“Very well, human. If I have something to say, I will not hold back.” Isental gave a barked laughter. “You were managing.”
“And look where we are now.”
“Far scan coming up clear as well, sir. I’ve detected three large objects at long distances – they’re almost certainly celestial bodies. I’ll clarify.”
“Please. What about those star charts, Lieutenant Shelton?”
“The navigational computer just this second positioned us, sir. We’re in a solar system with a name that’s a string of letters and numbers. LZ32-QN5 if you’re interested. Uh-oh – we’re in hostile territory. Or maybe it’s only contested territory – the language on the readout is ambiguous.”
“Beaten by a damn computer,” said Dominguez. “I’ve got the data coming up on my console. Let’s take a look.”
“One sun, ten planets,” said Shelton. “The positioning data isn’t accurate enough to tell me exactly where we are amongst them.”
Griffin waited impatiently, while Captain Isental prowled amongst the crew, peering intently at their screens. The Fangrin hadn’t said much, but he’d been familiarizing himself with the neural framework and the hardware. Griffin was confident that Isental knew more than just the basics.
“We’re between planets five and six,” said Dominguez eventually. “I estimate we’re two hundred million klicks from planet five and another two hundred million from number six. That puts us right in the middle.”
“Planet Ass and Planet Crap,” said Shelton cheerfully. “Those will be easier to remember than the names assigned in the star chart.”
“Anything worth looking at on the sensors?” asked Griffin, ignoring Shelton’s comment.
“No, sir,” Dominguez replied. “The Nullifier’s arrays are good, but they can’t resolve detail at this range.”
“We came here for a reason,” said Griffin. “I’d rather find out what that reason is before I fly us anywhere.”
“Everything we have seen of the Nullifier’s technology suggests it is unlikely to diverge significantly from its course during lightspeed travel,” said Isental.
“I agree.”
“And one of those planets is the likely reason we were brought here.”
Griffin was beginning to follow. He nodded and waited for Isental to continue.
“Therefore, the Nullifier believes that two hundred million kilometers is a safe distance.”
“That’s a big margin.”
“Perhaps the threat is great. In addition, the distance suggests that the battleship does not believe itself superior to whatever lies on those planets.”
“There is a task which the Nullifier can’t accomplish without us,” said Griffin. “Otherwise why bring us here?”
“The control entity spoke to you before, human. Perhaps it is time for you to try communicating again.”
“I’ll give it a try,” said Griffin.
The interface bar was close enough that he wasn’t required to stretch. Somehow, he could feel its coolness through the insulation of his flight gloves when he curled his fingers around it.
NULLIFIER> You have arrived at LZ32-QN5. Your crew have learned the operations of this spaceship quicker than I expected.
GRIFFIN> I want answers.
NULLIFIER> You are suspicious of my motives.
GRIFFIN> You’re damned right I’m suspicious. Why have you brought us here?
NULLIFIER> I was constructed for a purpose which I can fulfil in this place.
GRIFFIN> Did the Sekar build you?
NULLIFIER> They did not. My creators knew themselves as Hantisar.
GRIFFIN> Where are they?
NULLIFIER> Dead. Killed by the Sekar.
GRIFFIN> Were those bodies we found on the bridge your Hantisar crew?
NULLIFIER> Yes. They died many decades ago.
GRIFFIN> Why did they kill themselves?
NULLIFIER> The tharniol containment unit was breached when the Sekar-Major came. My crew chose to kill themselves rather than feed the Sekar.
It was fascinating to hear and Griffin desperately wanted to delve into the battleship’s history and also find out more about these Hantisar. Unfortunately, he had more pressing matters.
GRIFFIN> What is this purpose you mention?
NULLIFIER> The Sekar have a rift in this solar system. It is where I encountered the Sekar-Major.
GRIFFIN> And you’ve come back. Bringing us along for the ride.
NULLIFIER> The Sekar-Major is gone from here. There will not be another.
GRIFFIN> I get skeptical when I hear alien warships speak with such absolute confidence. Your last encounter was decades ago when your crew died. Why won’t there be another?
NULLIFIER> You must trust me.
GRIFFIN> Not yet. I can buy the idea you want to kill the Sekar. I’ve yet to find out what part I’m expected to play in it. More importantly, what’s in it for humanity and the Fangrin?
NULLIFIER> The Sekar are like a tide. They will sweep through the universe and nothing will stop them.
GRIFFIN> They don’t like tharniol and they didn’t like the death pulse on Glesia.
NULLIFIER> I have not encountered a death pulse before that one – it was a single oasis in the middle of a vast, endless desert. The Sekar are vulnerable to tharniol it is true. It was not enough for the Hantisar, nor for many species before them. Of them all, the Hantisar survived the longest.
GRIFFIN> Why don’t you just give up? It sounds like you have no hope.
NULLIFIER> That is a question I have never been asked.
GRIFFIN> And?
NULLIFIER> I do not have an answer. I endure and I will fulfil my purpose.
GRIFFIN> What is on those planets?
NULLIFIER> A Hantisar military base. A fleet of spaceships built before the Great Retreat.
GRIFFIN> Spaceships like the Nullifier?
NULLIFIER> No. Older ships from a time long before I was created.
GRIFFIN> What do you plan to do with the spaceships?
NULIFIER> I can reprogram their security systems so that your species can operate them.
GRIFFIN> You encountered a Sekar-Major here. I take it this fleet was not capable of defeating the enemy?
NULLIFIER> Not when their crews were dead.
“Sir?”
Dominguez’s voice roused Griffin from his private conversation with the spaceship.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been quiet for a long time.”
“I’m fine. Give me a little longer.”
GRIFFIN> The Sekar took the planet.
NULLIFIER> They forced open a rift. The planet was drained.
GRIFFIN> You called yourself a Rift class spaceship.
NULLIFIER> I was built to seal the Sekar rifts.
GRIFFIN> Why couldn’t you do it when the enemy arrived?
NULLIFIER> I was constructed 315 years after the event. It required 37 years’ travel to arrive in this solar system.
GRIFFIN> The crew must have been old.
NULLIFIER> They were.
GRIFFIN> The Great Retreat took the Hantisar 37 years away from here?
NULLIFIER> At the time, our fleet did not travel so quickly as the Nullifier. Escape required longer than 37 years.
GRIFFIN> The escape didn’t accomplish what your species hoped.
NULLIFIER> On the balance of probabilities, they are extinct.
GRIFFIN> Earlier you were sure the Hantisar were gone.
NULLIFIER> My species was scattered. Perhaps somewhere they exist. I do not know.
GRIFFIN> And you flew all this way to close a Sekar rift?
NULLIFIER> It is my purpose. I am one of many.
GRIFFIN> The rifts I’ve seen before close by themselves over time.
NULLIFIER> Some do not heal. Others are held open from the other side.
GRIFFIN> And the rift here in LZ32-QN5?
NULLIFIER> The Sekar-Major prevented the rift’s closure.
GRIFFIN> What a
bout now that it’s gone?
NULLIFIER> The rift’s natural closure might require centuries. Assuming another Sekar-Major does not take an interest.
GRIFFIN> If the rift is open, can other Sekar come through whenever they want?
NULLIFIER> They sense life. Where there is no life, they may not come.
GRIFFIN> Why were you at Glesia?
NULLIFIER> I do not know. The Sekar-Major interfered with many of my subsystems. Something drew it there.
GRIFFIN> A species called Ravok constructed a subsurface facility on the planet. The main teleporter malfunctioned.
NULLIFIER> If the Ravok’s teleportation technology was rudimental, their methods may have been enough to draw the attention of the Sekar-Major.
GRIFFIN> And now we’re back here in LZ32-QN5.
NULLIFIER> Yes.
GRIFFIN> You’re going to take another shot at closing the rift in this solar system. I’m still in the dark about why you require a crew, since you’re evidently so capable of doing this alone.
NULLIFIER> A spaceship is stronger with a crew.
GRIFFIN> I’m sure the Nullifier can act with complete autonomy.
NULLIFIER> I am programmed to require a crew.
GRIFFIN> To what benefit?
NULLIFIER> The journey has been a long one.
GRIFFIN> You’re lonely?
NULLIFIER> Yes.
Of all the things Griffin might have expected, this wasn’t one of them. The Nullifier had effectively kidnapped his crew and Conway’s soldiers, and taken them to an unknown part of the universe where they were expected to continue the Hantisar’s conflict with the Sekar.
Except it wasn’t just the Hantisar’s fight, Griffin knew. It was everyone’s fight. On top of that, the Nullifier promised a new fleet to bolster the alliance’s flagging numbers. If the battleship was telling the truth, these spaceships would be ancient – maybe their propulsions wouldn’t even fire up.
Or perhaps the spaceships worked just fine and perhaps they were fitted with weapons which would be equally effective against both the Sekar and the Raggers.
GRIFFIN> Let’s help each other out. No more bullshit.
NULLIFIER> Welcome aboard. We are going to Dominion.
Chapter Seventeen
The moment agreement was made, additional parts of the neural framework became visible. Griffin ran a quick check and discovered that the Nullifier was equipped with something called an emitter, which was designed to seal Sekar rifts. Other than that, he discovered new access to star charts and propulsion monitoring which the spaceship’s control entity had blocked off as part of its plan to acquire a new crew. As well as those, an additional comms facility became available.
Nullifier (Fire and Rust Book 6) Page 13