by P P Corcoran
Terrance flexed his tired neck and let out a breath before repeating his analysis. “Luminosity is decreasing at a steady rate and location is also changing at a fixed rate.”
“Exactly!” Burkett said failing to contain his enthusiasm.
“Hold your horses there, Ensign.” Said Terrance. “We knew one sure indicator for Assena would be a decreasing luminosity as the construction of the Dyson Sphere gradually masked the star from view. Nobody mentioned a change of location.”
“It’s a rogue.” Said Burkett as he shrugged his shoulders as if that was explanation enough.
Terrance looked at him for a moment before turning to face Sarkisian the look on his face prompting her to explain.
“A rogue star. More correctly termed an intergalactic star is a star that is not gravitationally bound to any galaxy. We think they have been expelled from their original galaxies as a result of either two galaxies colliding or of a multi star system traveling too close to a super massive black hole. The other stars get sucked into the black hole while the surviving star gets ejected at hypervelocity and escapes the gravitational well of the entire galaxy.”
“Pretty neat, huh?” Put in Burkett. The look Terrance gave him caused the smile to be wiped from his face as the ensign tried to find some other direction to look in.
“How do we make sure it’s actually Assena?” Terrance asked Sarkisian.
“We fold in say, 500 light-years, deploy the DSDG, and take new readings. Then we fold out a thousand light-years and repeat the procedure. The closer we are the dimmer the star should be. The further out the brighter. Firm up the locations and we should be able to predict a direction of travel…”
“And an exact location.” Terrance finished the scientist’s sentence. The implications of their discovery hit Terrance like a freight train. He took a couple of deep breaths before heading for the bay door while calling over his shoulder. “Outstanding job Ensign. Outstanding!”
✽✽✽
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE - CARSON CITY - EARTH - SOL SYSTEM
“Hey Earl, what was so important that its dragged you out of those windowless offices of Special Projects to visit us mere mortals.” Snorted Aleksandr Vadis as the door closed softly behind Brigadier General Earl Statham. The serious look on Earl’s face caused Vadis to pause.
“When was the last time your office was swept?” Statham asked without preamble.
Vadis opened his mouth to retort the ridiculousness of the question. He was the head of Naval Intelligence, if his office had a listening device then he deserved to be sacked on the spot. Only the look in his friend’s eyes was one of complete seriousness. Vadis walked around his desk, placing his palm down on what appeared to be an innocuous piece of desktop. A soft beep confirmed that the stand-alone computer built into the desk was running its lock down program. Behind Vadis the stunning view of the Sierra Nevada mountains disappeared as the custom manufactured glass obscured and the thin copper filament embedded in the glass made contact with matching elements that ran through the rooms walls, floor and ceiling turning the room into a Faraday’s Cage completely blocking out all electromagnetic fields. From the desk came a double beep informing Vadis that it had completed its sweep with negative results.
“We are clean.” Said Vadis.
“Half an hour ago I received a signal from Lieutenant Wilson on the Tycho Brahe -”
Vadis felt his heart pound harder in his chest.
“The signal consisted of three words: Red Star Found.”
✽✽✽
2287 LIGHT-YEARS FROM EARTH
A midnight black shape coated in the stealthiest material the Commonwealth Union of Planets could manufacture winked into existence traveling at for modern star ships was the snail’s pace of eighteen kilometers a second as it crossed the systems predicted heliosphere at an oblique angle. Passive sensors recorded every twitch of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the body of the vessel unfurled four narrow, flexible tubes until reaching out almost five kilometers in length in a cross shape with the vessel at its center. With the interferometric gravitational wave detector fully deployed additional data began pouring into the on-board computers. In the cramped cockpit a human pilot sat beside a Persai engineer while a Garundan technician ran a systems check.
The mixed crew’s mission was simple. Confirm this to be the location of Assena. Do not be detected. Get home.
✽✽✽
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE - CARSON CITY - EARTH - SOL SYSTEM
The sound of ice hitting the base of crystal tumblers was swiftly followed by the finest whiskey sloshing on top of the cooling ice. Aleksandr Vadis passed one tumbler to Earl Statham before raising his own in mock salute.
“Confirmation came a few minutes ago.”
Statham ran through a plethora of emotions quicker than he could take a single breath. Relief. Justification. Satisfaction. Elation. In the end his body settled on resignation. Resignation because though they had found the Saiph and the Supreme Leader the discovery as far as he could see only had one outcome. Combat.
Abruptly the taste of the expensive whiskey went sour in his throat.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
STRIKE BEFORE IT’S
TOO LATE
CENTRAL COMMAND | MONT SALEVE | EARTH
John Radford was pretty sure that he had heard somewhere that if you allowed too many admirals to congregate in one place it caused a rip in the space time continuum and everyone and everything within a hundred kilometers was sucked into an alternate dimension. As unobtrusively as he could he glanced around him ensuring that he was not about to step into a wormhole or something of its ilk and be whisked away.
“I see you have heard that rumor too.” Analisa Chavez whispered conspiratorially as she wondered up beside him.
John cocked his head over so as not to be overheard. “Have you seen this room? I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many fleet commanders gathered together in one place, have you?”
“Nope.”
“What are you pair whispering about?” Asked Kaitlin Rocha as she popped a pig in a blanket into her mouth that she had retrieved from the cold buffet laid out on silver trays along one wall of the conference room.
“Have you got any idea what’s going on?” Said John as he considered heading over to grab some food himself as he caught sight of Lela Wilder, Commander of CSG Montu and Madix Walters, Commander CSG Bastet, gravitating toward the buffet.
“All I know is that I got direct orders from Jing to hot tail it to Central Command for a face-to-face. I was about to depart when Admiral Lewis hailed me, he suggested we travel together since he was headed to the same briefing.”
Analisa did a quick 360-degree turn before pursing her lips and releasing a small sigh. “I don’t see him. We’ve been trying to catch up for month.”
Kaitlin shook her head as she tried to speak with a mouthful of pig in a blanket. “Uh, no. Someone whisked him off as soon as we touched down to meet with the Combined Joint Chiefs. See? I’ve always said rank has its privileges.”
“Well, it seems we have nothing to do but wait - and eat of course.” John said already edging away determined to beat Kaitlin to the buffet. The gentle hiss of hydraulics opening and closing a door put paid to that plan as Admiral Ai Jing entered accompanied by Robert Lewis, his red uniform blouse and black pants announcing to everyone who saw him that he was no longer a serving officer of the Terran Defense Force but rather the very first commander of the Janus Space Navy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. Time is short and we have much to do.” Jing pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down. Robert Lewis took the seat to his immediate right while the other commanders in the room took the first available seat.
Jing waited for the last person to sit, then promptly began. “The Department of Special Projects confirmed today that they have ascertained the base of operations of the Black Ships.” At a command, an unseen yeoman activated the holo cube which flicker
ed to life over the center of the conference table. John squinted to make any sense from the projection. Yellows and purples flowed together to form a large spheroid shape at the center with darker greens and near-black colors formed irregular bands spreading outwards. “The images were taken at extreme range are grainy. We’ve added false color to get a better look at what we’re facing.”
The image zoomed in to fix on the spherical object. “Ladies and gents, this is a Dyson Sphere.” Collectively the gathering took an intake of breath.
You have got to be kidding me! Thought John.
“Up to this point the collective minds of the Commonwealth thought that such a construct was a theoretical thought experiment. Well, as you can see, there is nothing theoretical about it anymore. The Saiph have built it and it is our job to take it away from them or destroy it trying. Speak freely, no holds barred here. We need to do this, and it will be up to you gathered here to get it done.”
John gazed upon the object floating above the table wondering where you would even start the construct was simply so big his brain was struggling to comprehend it. Jing gave his commanders a few moments to contemplate the scale of the Dyson Sphere before he rapped sharply on the tabletop. The noise had the desired effect as six sets of eyes focused on him once more.
“Our best-case scenario is that the Saiph have between two hundred and four hundred cruiser class warships to hand.”
Analisa Chavez spoke up. “And what is that figure based on, sir?”
“Eyewitness accounts of the Saiph assault on Alona. Taking those numbers into account the Joint Chiefs are considering it a near maximum effort on the part of the Supreme Leader.”
Kaitlin Rocha let out a large harrumph. “And we’re trusting the Empire now?”
“We haven’t got to the good bit yet Kaitlin.” Said Robert out of the side of his mouth. A comment which earned him a hard stare from Jing.
“Only four of their cruisers damn near gutted my entire command.” Pointed out John to grunts of agreement from Lela Wilder and Madix Walters. John did some math in his head. “If we take the casualties Itus suffered at Guzman as a working example of the damage those Saiph cruisers can inflict then my losses will be increased a hundredfold.” John ran a wary eye around the room. “600 destroyers, 3,800 fighters, 500 cruisers, 200 battleships and,” John had to swallow before he spoke the final number, “238,400 men and women.” The palpable silence descended on the room.
It was left to Robert Lewis to break the silence. “And if we are not willing to accept those sorts of casualties we are looking at something far worse John…” Robert lent forward on his elbows to emphasize his point. “Extinction. Plain and simple. This isn’t some vid game where we can press reset and I hope to god we all know that. It’s us or them and I for one would rather it was them than us.”
“I think we all get that Robert.” Said Analisa momentarily forgetting that as the commander of the Janus Space Navy, Robert Lewis was now two ranks higher than she. If he was bothered by her break in etiquette Robert did not show it. “However, the numbers are against us. The TDF simply does not have those sorts of numbers available. Even at the height of the war against the Others we had nowhere near that amount of tonnage to hand. I wish we did but…”
Jing held up a hand to stop Analisa. “This will be a joint operation Analisa. And by joint, I mean exactly that.” Jing shifted his weight in his seat which was a sure sign to anyone who knew him that he was uncomfortable with what he was about to say next. “At an extraordinary meeting of the Commonwealth Union of Planets Council was held late last night. The Council unanimously agreed to activate the Mutual Defense Clause which requires all member and associated star nations to make available to the Commonwealth Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff what resources the Joint Chiefs deem appropriate to meet the current perceived threat. Before joining this meeting I signed off on a request from the Joint Chiefs that all warships of destroyer class and above immediately rendezvous at a location that I designated where they will come under command of the Combined Fleet Commander.”
Jing let the room soak that in for a few seconds before the unseen yeoman again changed the image in the holo cube. This time it was lists of ships indexed by nationality and class. John had to concentrate to stop his mouth gaping open as ship name after ship name raced by in front of him. The entire current front-line warships of the Terran Defense Force including all three Carrier Strike Groups, Home Fleet, Second Fleet and Survey Commands cruiser complement. Garunda was contributing nearly 80 percent of Third Fleet. The Persai had committed a equivalent numbers from its own navy. When the Janus Space Navy names appeared in the holo cube Robert Lewis sat a bit straighter in seat. They may only have three Vigilant class battleships and a handful of cruisers in their inventory however, each and every one of them was on the list as well as an additional type that indicated that there was sixty of its type available. The others may have missed it but not Kaitlin Rocha who gave Roberts elbow a nudge.
“What’s a ‘Hornet’?”
Robert let a smile spread slowly across his face like the cat who had got the milk. “Remember those cargo doors that you were so interested in?”
Robert swore that he could see the light bulb going off behind Kaitlin’s eyes. “You sneaky son of a…”
The snort that escaped her once commanding officer led to him receiving a rather painful punch to the bicep. “Fighters! You didn’t have the time or money to build your own carriers, so you bastardized your battleships to do two jobs rolled into one.”
Robert used his index finger to tap the side of his nose. “Don’t tell anyone will you.”
The names in the holo cube were nearly completed scrolling through as last, but not least, a list of Benii carriers and heavy cruisers went past. John, for one, was glad to see them. His own Mosquito fighters had probably been one of his main assets in his fight against the Saiph cruisers at Guzman and seeing more than two dozen Benii carriers each with eighty Freiba space-fighters aboard. Add them to the Mosquitos of the three TDF Carrier Strike Groups and the JSN’s sixty Hornets and that gave them 2,196 deadly buzzing bees that the Saiph had shown at Guzman not to have an answer to. John rubbed his chin as he considered what options this Combined Fleet Commander might have. The numbers were not great - not by a long chalk however, they would have a fighting chance all they needed was a bit of luck.
If something to balance the odds a little bit was what John wanted, then Jing was about to deliver it. “To the list you see before you we have a few additions.”
“I said you would like this.” Robert staged whispered to Kaitlin.
Jing chose to ignore the voice to his right and continued speaking. “The Emperor of Alona are committing seventeen of their most advanced cruisers to the fight. According to the tech team from Zarminda who have been allowed unrestricted access to these vessels each Imperial cruiser is easily the match , if not superior too, its Saiph opposite number.”
Madix Walters let out a low whistle. “Where do I get myself a half dozen of those bad puppies.”
“Unfortunately, Madix, according to Admiral Glandinning, it would take divine intervention for us to even complete a design never mind build a ship of that type in the next year.”
“What about the antimatter missiles we’ve heard so much about?” Asked Lela Wilder.
“Ah, now there we have some good news.” Reported Jing. “The box launchers for the capital ship missiles have been in production for some months and Zarminda are confident that they will be able to supply enough for at least a limited engagement therefore the phrase here is ‘use prudently’”.
“What about the HVAMM’s?” Inquired John. “We are going to have plenty of fighters the question is will we have the missiles to equip them. Those things could be a game changer if we can get our fighters close enough to knock down the Saiph energy shields.”
“The Alonans have antimatter to spare, thanks to Commander Okal and the Savior’s production plants. We’re transp
orting the antimatter to the Janus shipyards and President Crothers has made the High Velocity Antimatter Missiles top priority for the fabrication plants.” Jing tipped his head to Robert Lewis. “I don’t doubt that Janus will hold up its reputation as equaling our own yards for bulk production.”
“We are still outgunned.” Noted Madix Walters. A comment that garnered mumbled agreements from around the table.
Jing steepled his fingers before him and tapped the tips of his index fingers against pursed lips; as if contemplating how to formulate the words to impart his vital information. Rolling his shoulders forward in to release the tension growing between them, Jing shared the news he had received the morning before, and led to frantic planning by the Joint Chiefs Strategy Committee, prior to their presentation to the Commonwealth Council, which in turn led them to invoke the Mutual Defense Clause.
“As I said prior, this is a joint operation. Not only will Commonwealth and Alonan forces be involved…” Jing paused and used the time to meet each officers eye trying to gauge their reaction to what he was about to reveal. “Yesterday morning a representative of the Turak approached the Commonwealth with a proposal. He proposed that, if the Saiph could be located, then the Turak would be willing to form a temporary alliance with Commonwealth forces to engage and defeat the Saiph.”
It was not often that a group, like this, were so shocked by a briefing that they were speechless. John was the first to recover. “What sort of numbers are we talking?”
Jing activated his PAD and read directly from its compact display. “302 battleships, 543 heavy cruisers, 487 light cruisers and 749 destroyers and frigates.” When Jing looked up stunned faces greeted him, except for the face of John Radford who had a stupid grin plastered on his.
“Something amusing, John?”
John abruptly stood up and started pacing up and down all the time that stupid grin of his remained glued to his features.
