A Simple Mission

by Daniel Gibbs

  Seeing Barton was clearly against him, Henry nodded. "Yes, sir."

  "Now, to review the planned maneuvers…"

  3

  Shadow Wolf

  Open Space

  8 April 2559

  * * *

  Five days out from Galt was the day for Henry's quarterly medical checkup. He arrived at the infirmary built astern of the Shadow Wolf's living quarters and found Oskar Kiderlein looking over his instruments. Oskar was the only member of the crew who could claim to have been born on the birth world of Humanity itself. He was from Earth—Germany, to be precise—where he'd learned medicine at one of the medical universities before being ordered into the League Social Defense Militia for a twenty-year term in the League military. The Militia was a dedicated service for garrisoning worlds, which included dealing with local insurgencies or resistance of any stripe.

  Oskar Kiderlein thus saw the League of Sol at its worst, since he was often the one treating the people the Social Defense Militia suppressed, or ones the security and secret police services "interviewed." He was also one of those who worked in the "socialization camps" on occupied worlds, used to convert the League's new citizens into "properly socialized members of Society." And when that twenty-year term was extended indefinitely, Oskar did the unthinkable to the League: he deserted.

  The League didn't take kindly to desertion. From what Henry knew, if Oskar ever fell into their hands, his fate would be an "interview" with some very unkind people, a speedy military trial, and followed by a quick ejection from the nearest airlock.

  "Ah, Captain," he said, his English accented with German in a way that brought back memories to Henry. "It is good to see you’re taking your health seriously."

  "CDF regs were pretty strict about it," Henry replied. "So yeah, I'm here." He took a seat on one of the three beds in the infirmary. Emergency bedding was available if it were ever needed, although that would be a pretty dicey situation for them if it came about. "And really, we're still nine days out from our destination, so I've got nothing better to do." Nothing better than to think about the Laffey, it seems. He blamed Lou's choice of words upon their parting, even if it was unfair.

  "I know the feeling," Oskar said. "I have spent the time reading medical journals." He ran a medical scanner over Henry’s upper body. After a few seconds, he noted his blood pressure reading and pulse. "Hrm, a little higher than usual," he said. "But not hypertensive."

  "No surprise, I suppose. We are on the way to the fringe of Human-explored space."

  "So I have read," said Oskar. "The Jalm'tar have never allowed Humans into their space."

  "They consider us disorderly, supposedly."

  "Well, our species is busy killing each other in the greatest interstellar war these arms of the galaxy has ever seen," Oskar commented wryly while checking Henry's body temperature with an infrared thermometer. "I can see their point of view."

  "So can I," Henry said. "Not just because of the war. It's bad enough we kill each other on purpose. When we do it by accident…"

  Oskar gave him a concerned look. "Ah. Yes. The time of year. I understand."

  Henry had no response to that. No verbal one anyway. Deep down, he couldn't help but think, No, you don't.

  CSV Laffey

  Phi Philomena System, Terran Coalition

  16 April 2546

  * * *

  After the weeks of preparation, the day of the testing arrived with the Laffey crew ready to see what their old ship could do. Dr. Larkin and a few of his team members would be directly observing the fusion drive's performance in the field test while the rest of the team would watch from the bridge of the cruiser CSV Solzhenitsyn.

  On the bridge of Laffey, James Henry called the ship to general quarters. Major Hale was at her station to his left, allowing her immediate control of internal ship communications and monitoring of the crew's reports and situation. Toward the bow, the navigation station was manned by First Lieutenant Joachim Mueller and the tactical action station by First Lieutenant Anthony Xu. Ship-to-ship communications were under the control of Second Lieutenant Janine Renner. Other backup stations were manned by junior officers and NCOs.

  Renner looked up from her station. "Erhart's sent us the all-clear, sir. They're ready for us to begin."

  Henry switched the intercom controls on the arm of his chair to engineering. "Engineering, Are you ready for combat power?"

  "Yes, sir," replied Soto.

  Her voice was professional, without a hint of the frustration he knew her to have still. Henry spent two hours the other day talking her out of demanding relief from her post. It would have destroyed her career if he'd let her issue it, not to mention complicated the testing. And she'd not let him get away without warnings of what might go wrong.

  It gave the day a veneer of real worry, not unlike a day where combat was possible while on patrol. Henry resolved to cancel the maneuver if it looked like his ship was threatened.

  Henry switched the intercom again. "Drive Testing Control, Bridge. Doctor, we're ready."

  "As are we, Colonel. Commence the test."

  "Navigation, half-power to the fusion drive."

  "Aye aye, sir," said the New Bavarian Astrogator, his English accented with the German of his homeworld.

  The wording was not technically accurate but merely a matter of tradition. Older plasma and ion drives required electrical sources of power to go into operation, so sending them said power from a ship's fusion cores was part of the way most vessels operated. The new engine would produce its own electrical power with the helium-3/deuterium fusion reaction. The plasma that provided thrust was the byproduct of that reaction.

  The Laffey's main engines came alive with a cerulean light. Henry listened quietly as Mueller reported their acceleration rate and increase. As expected, the Laffey was accelerating far quicker than ships of its class would ordinarily perform at a half-power burn. Noting the distance to the next testing area, he contemplated what acceleration profile to approach with.

  "Conn, communcations. Signal from General Erhart, sir," said Renner. "We are instructed to give the drives a full-burn run."

  Henry forced himself not to sigh. He already imagined Faulkner and maybe Barton were pushing for this, not happy with his cautious raising of the thrust to ensure himself regarding Soto's worries. "Acknowledge them. Navigation, bring us up to three-quarters burn for ten seconds, then full burn."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  The Laffey's acceleration picked up quickly. He noted the recorded velocity and had to admit that Kalling was delivering on its promises. With this kind of acceleration, we would have absolute freedom to dictate engagement against the League. They'd always be on their back foot.

  Full burn came. The ship was reaching an acceleration rate that was starting to overcome the inertial dampener system, bringing them from the .96Gs standard to 1.12Gs. He glanced to Hale. "XO, anything from damage control systems?"

  "Structure is holding steady. The reinforcements from the yard are working, sir," Hale replied. "Inertial dampeners are struggling, though. The extra field generator isn't enough to counter this amount of acceleration."

  Henry nodded. 1.12Gs was not too bad, at least. But it could get worse if the dampeners failed any further. "Keep an eye on the system, then."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  To please Faulkner and Larkin, Henry let the engine remain at full burn for most of the trip. In the final five minutes, he gave the order to cut engine power and activate the deceleration graviton field. Without an atmosphere, space didn't allow for easy breaking—ordinarily, you had to turn your ship and use your main engines to decelerate—but the graviton field acted as a replacement for atmospheric drag, decelerating a vessel without requiring further consumption of drive fuel. It operated on similar principles to deflector shield technology and energy grapplers.

  The open space was at the Lagrange point of Phi Philomena 4, the main settlement in the system. Far on the edge of it were three contacts
. Two were Coalition destroyers, identified on the screens as the CSV Sophie Scholl and the CSV Ophelia. The third was a captured League destroyer of the Cobra classification, re-christened as the CSV Kale. "Navigation, begin evasive approach," Henry ordered. "Your discretion."

  "Aye aye, sir, evasive approach," answered Mueller.

  That order gave Mueller control over their maneuvers, and Henry was impressed by the junior officer's decisions on their approach vector. As per the test, the three destroyers ahead were tracking them and firing dummy rounds, treating their approach as a hostile destroyer on an attack run. Ordinarily, three destroyers against one were terrible odds, but the acceleration profile of their drives allowed Mueller to throw off their foes' predictive firing patterns. The Laffey's fusion drives made it simple to evade the incoming simulated fire.

  When they reached the ten-thousand-kilometer range from the other destroyers, the test ended, and the simulated fire ceased. "Status, Major?" Henry asked Hale.

  "Deflectors still at seventy percent effectiveness," Hale answered. "All systems normal."

  "Communications, relay that result to the Solzhenitsyn."

  Moments passed before Renner gave a response. "Result is considered 'mostly satisfactory,' sir."

  Henry's eyebrow went up. "'Mostly' satisfactory?" he asked aloud.

  "Yes, sir."

  They must think I'm playing it safe. Well, I am, but not as safe as I'd like. Henry set his jaw for a moment before nodding once more. "Acknowledge that. Mister Mueller, you know what you're doing, but it's clear our superiors want the drive pushed further. I won't ask you to take that responsibility on yourself, so I'll issue movement orders from here on out."

  "Understood, sir," said Mueller.

  "Colonel Kramer on the Scholl signals readiness to commence direct tactical test," Renner said.

  "Begin countdown. Navigation, prepare combat power, Attack Maneuver Charlie."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  "TAO…"

  "Designating targets Masters Ten, Eleven and Tweleve, sir," Xu answered. "Weapons set for simulated fire."

  "Conn, Engineering." Soto's voice came over the intercom. "Colonel, our systems are showing microfractures formed in plasma nozzle 2 during the approach burn. Recommend reduction in combat power."

  "Understood, Engineering," Henry said. "Continue monitoring. Mister Mueller…"

  "Aye aye, sir, I'll keep the engines to no more than three-quarters," replied Mueller.

  "Good. Ms. Renner, give us a countdown to the commencement of the exercise."

  "Aye, sir. Synching with Red Force squadron now. Maneuvering phase commences in ten, nine, eight…"

  The countdown finished with Renner announcing "Mark." At that point, Mueller put the fusion drives back to power, granting velocity to the Laffey. Her opponents did the same until all of the ships were in motion relative to each other.

  "Engagement phase in ten, nine, eight…"

  Henry said nothing through the second countdown either, allowing Renner to finish it and for Mueller and Xu to enact their orders.

  Even at three-quarters combat power, the fusion drives granted Henry and his ship a definite advantage. The incoming fire grazed their deflectors or failed to hit at all. Xu's return fire was not the most accurate either, of course, but he was doing better than any of the opposing tactical officers.

  "Deflectors still holding," remarked Hale. From her combat station, she monitored the ship's condition. "No damage."

  "Master Twelve has partial shield loss," Xu said. "Focusing fire."

  With that in mind, Henry considered his options and said, "TAO, Attack maneuver X-Ray.”

  "Aye, sir."

  Mueller was just putting the orders into practice when Renner spoke up. "Sir, signal from Testing Command. You are instructed to put the engines to full."

  Henry frowned. "Are you sure that's what they're asking?"

  "Yes, sir," she said quietly. "Directly from General Erhart."

  Henry felt his jaw tighten for a moment. "Patch me over." He waited until the light beside his chair lit up before saying, "General, I..."

  Erhart cut him off before he could say more. "You have your orders, Colonel, and I expect them to be obeyed. That is all."

  And indeed it was, and it made Henry feel wrong. Not just wrong, but betrayed. As the ship's CO, he was responsible for everything onboard and for the safety of his crew. It was one thing to put them in harm's way for a battle, quite another to do so as part of a weapons test.

  But orders were still orders. If he didn't do it, Erhart would relieve him and find someone who would, even if it meant sending an officer from Solzhenitsyn. "Engineering, Bridge," he said into the ship’s intercom. "Prep for full burn on fusion drives."

  Soto's voice crackled back with heat and some venom. "Sir, I must advise against…"

  "Orders from above, Captain. Monitor those drives." Henry nodded to Mueller. "Go to full power on the fusion drives, Lieutenant."

  "Aye, sir," answered Mueller, looking perturbed as he did.

  The Laffey's acceleration picked up. Now her maneuvers were completely outpacing her three foes, and Master Twelve – Kale – was reduced to a burning wreck in the simulation. Soon that ship ceased firing and stopped moving. "Focus on Master Ten," Henry ordered Xu.

  "Aye, sir, firing on Master Ten."

  Dummy mag-cannon rounds and low-power shots from the old pulse guns tracked across space, focusing on the Scholl. A newer ship than Laffey, she took the fire well in the simulation. But her return volleys, and those of the Ophelia, were failing to connect to the Laffey, at least enough to seriously degrade her shields.

  Hale whistled to herself. "Damn. The League won't be able to touch us."

  "Yeah," agreed Henry. "So long as…"

  The entire ship shook violently. Henry's heart skipped a beat in the process. That kind of thing was never good news on a ship, and he already had a terrible…

  "Conn, Engineering, rupture in engine housing two! I repeat, rupture!" Soto's voice cried out. "Complete failure, plasma is entering the ship!"

  "Cut power to drives, now!" Henry ordered Mueller.

  Mueller did so. He shook his head. "The reaction is not shutting down, sir! Fusion drive is still stuck on full!"

  "Testing Control, Bridge, what's going on back there?" Henry shouted into the system. When there was no response, he added, "Doctor Larkin, we need that drive shut down!"

  Hale looked back from her display. "Sir, internal systems show that the blast from the initial failure… the plasma went into Testing Control. They're gone."

  Henry swallowed hard. "Engineering, Bridge, we can't shut down the drives from here. Evacuate the rear sections of the ship immediately."

  "Sir, Solzhenitsyn is demanding a status report," Renner said.

  Henry came close to erupting in fury at the request, but he bit it back down at the last minute. "Tell them to stand by," he said while considering his options. If they couldn't shut down the drive via electronic controls, the next step would be to deprive it of fuel. He looked to Hale. "Major, vent our fuel reserves."

  "Aye aye, sir.” Hale stared at her board for a moment. "Something's wrong. The interior tanks aren't venting. They're not getting my control signal." She glanced back at him. "The control system's locked off. I can't access it."

  That was not what he wanted to hear. The interior reserve tanks held enough fuel to keep the reactors going for at least another half an hour, if not longer. By then, the superheated plasma produced by the fusion drives would fill much of the ship, even with the bulkheads to slow it.

  "Bridge, Engineering," said Soto. "We're evacuating now. I'm suiting up and heading to manual control for interior tanks. I'll vent from there."

  Hale gave Henry a look that confirmed his fears. The controls would be in a part of the ship at immediate risk. And against the plasma generated by the fusion engines, Soto's suit would fare no better than the bulkheads. "Captain, evacuate with the others."

 
; "Sir, if we don't stop that reaction, the plasma will get through the rest of the ship in a few minutes. This stuff… it's hotter than the designers anticipated."

  Henry heard that and felt his jaw clench. If that was true, and if they couldn't stop the engines, could the ship be evacuated in so short a time?

  Hale looked up. "Bulkheads in Section H are already failing. Plasma entering Section G on multiple decks."

  "All crew to the life pods. Now." Henry turned to Xu. "Lieutenant…"

  "I've already got armory crew ejecting the stores, sir."

  Henry nodded in approval of Xu's initiative. He turned his attention to Hale. "Do we have Soto's transponder?"

  "Yes, sir. She's entering Section H now, Deck Six. Just below the interior tank access."

  Henry considered keying her comms, but he didn't want to distract her. "Plasma presence?"

  "It's approaching the area," said Hale. "I'd almost say to let the plasma deal with the fuel lines, but I don't think it would before it gets to the rest of the ship."

  "It wouldn't," Henry said. Those lines were made to endure even more than protective bulkheads.

  "Sir, Solzhenitsyn is signaling, demanding to know status," Renner repeated.

  "Inform them we have taken casualties and lost propulsion control. Evacuation of the ship may be in order." Henry kept any further comments to himself. Whatever happened, there would be a Board of Inquiry over this incident, and the investigators for the JAG would handle it.

  "Manually venting tanks now," said Soto.

  Hale shook her head. "The plasma's getting through the stern bulkhead for Section G. She needs to get out of there."

  "Status on the tanks?" Henry asked, just managing to keep the impatience out of his voice.

  "Venting now. Sixty percent capacity... fifty-five... fifty…"

  "Soto, get out of there, now!" Henry ordered.

  "Doing so now," she confirmed. "I'm heading for—"

  What came next wasn't a sound so much as a silence. An abrupt end to all noise. After a moment of no further communication, Henry said, "Captain. Captain, this is Colonel Henry, please respond."