Obsidian Ressurection

by T J Bryan

  With the agenda complete, Abel wanted to discuss the return of the Ragnarök. The roundabout trip was estimated to take about 31 day if all went well. However one needed to add a few days on station at Girots for discussions with the government and hopefully repairs for the Bountiful. Ragnarök could be expected no earlier than January 15. Add a few days or perhaps a week and Abel expected her to appear at the very end of January. Foodstocks at that point would be down to 7 months. However if Bountiful arrived all would be well. But Abel always had a back up plan. If for some reason Bountiful could not resume commerce, or if she had been the ship debris that coasted into the Jamon system, the Iceland was ready for departure the moment Ragnarök returned. Iceland was a fast armoured freighter but still slower than a SAR. Total round trip transit time for the Iceland was about 40 days and that did not include loading foodstuffs from Girots fulsome stores. Helen estimated that perhaps ten days would be needed for loading of Iceland using the heavy lifters. Under a best case scenario Abel estimated that Iceland could well return to Jamon in 50 days from departure at the end of January. That would place relief to the Commonwealth toward the end of March. At that point the Habitat might have foodstuffs in reserve for only four or at best five months. Whichever scenario played out relief was going to be a close call.

  The Bountiful, if able to fly, was old and slow. Assuming she could be repaired and resume her shipments to Jamon her travel time from Girots to the Habitat was at least 58 to 62 days. And that was assuming all went well.

  Abel was tempted to order the Iceland to leave immediately. He did not want to take any chances, but Helen insisted that Iceland was not ready. She had only in the last week began to test her GWP engines, and her crew, except for Pilot Larry Nillson, was very green. Helen insisted on holding to the end of January before departing to Girots as backup.

  Abel had only to wait. He had done everything he could to bring relief. He had decided that if Ragnarök or Bountiful did not appear by the end of January he would order the Iceland to Girots. He would do so even if he had no knowledge of what had happened to either Bountiful or Ragnarök.

  Abel had wanted Iceland to be escorted by 1044 if she departed in desperation, but like Iceland, 1044 did not yet have a full crew. Any qualified crew on 1044 would be transferred to Iceland to make her fit for deployment in January. Once again Abel faced his one real shortage; qualified crews. Of the shortage of crews, pilots led the list. Abel had the minimum ES and MS crew needed for the both ships. Weapons and defence were not far behind. It was astrogation that was the real bottleneck. Taylor Schmidtt was probably within a few days of qualifying, but he was the only advanced prospect they had. Dilli was with Nomi off on Ragnarök and might well return as qualified, but for now he had only the prospect of Schmidtt. Three others from the Collegium had volunteered and two had progressed to the point of becoming 'hopeful' in Abel's mind. But one did not rely upon hope to feed a starving people. Even in a state of hope, Abel knew that months and months of hard intellectual work lay ahead of the two prospective astrogators before the simulator would even give them an opportunity to prove themselves.

  Before they adjourned their meeting Abel asked, "Helen what did Unity do for astrogation?"

  Helen paused a moment before responding. "From the historical record on the EG they had very few astrogators. Unity was a system built on slaves and even the minders who ran the place for the Nobs were slaves themselves. Minders had some degree of education which was needed to perform their enforcement responsibilities, but their education was limited to only those skills needed to enforce Nob rule over the slaves. However, there were a few brilliant minds within Unity regardless of their origin. In a population of billions and billions spread over more than a sixty systems some talent was bound to rise. However, there were few, and those who stood out were often perceived as a threat. There is an old saying that the nail that sticks up is the first to be hammered down."

  Helen continued, "The unfortunate truth is that Unity's fleets almost always travelled without an astrogator. Unity never mastered the technology behind gravity well propulsion and instead relied upon what was called 'displacement propulsion' or what some call a 'stutter engine'. If you use anti-matter with abandon you can force a mass to move just a tiny distance. Apply more anti-matter and you move again. If you apply enough and fast enough you can actually move a large mass rather fast. Never as fast as the GWP used by Greayson. The maximum speed of Unity ships never exceeded 10% of SOL. This gave Greayson a huge advantage with ships four or five times as fast assuming they could use the GWP in a battle within a given system."

  Abel asked, "So they didn't need astrogation?"

  "No, they needed that skill. Gravity wells exist in every system and the effect of those wells is felt by any moving object within that system. Even displacement propulsion ships were effected by the gravitational pull of suns, planets, cosmic clouds, and even black holes. They may not have needed astrogation to the same degree as Greayson, but their efficiency in battle, or in simple travel between systems, was negatively impacted by the lack of that critical skill. We know of several incidents where entire fleets of Unity ships simply disappeared into black hole gravity wells due to poor navigation and the lack of astrogation skills.

  Abel responded, "So if we did not use GWP we might not need astrogators?"

  Helen responded, "Abel I admire you for your perception and insight. But anyone attempting interstellar travel without astrogation is going to eventually die. It's that simple. And the example of Unity proves the point. They may well have lost more ships to errors from the lack of astrogation than in actual battle."

  Abel's vid-com chimed and he looked down at the screen. He looked up at Helen and Emmitt. "It's Bjorn Haverson, the poor soul has gotten himself selected as interim Chairman until we have a full election for that position next month. I should take his call."

  "Hello Bjorn, enjoying all the power and respect of your new status?"

  Bjorn laughed. "Yes, I think I'll have roast lamb for supper with buttered near-potatoes this evening prior to retiring with my harem for the night." Bjorn laughed again.

  "Ok Bjorn I know your busy so why the call?"

  "I just wanted to update you on our search for Arne Thorgaut. We have searched every where within the Habitat and there are no results. We cannot find him here. Now Arne is most unpopular following the coup so no one is likely to be hiding him within the Habitat, so I figure he must have run for it and taken off to one of the old mining stations. It would be a cold existence and a miserable one on any of those stations, but there are hundreds of them and we simply lack the resources to check all of them out. We are looking at the larger stations, but I think he is more likely to have gone to one of the small ones as distant from the Habitat as is possible to travel in a runabout."

  'So you are certain he is not here? In the Habitat?"

  "About as certain as is possible. Abel this man is hated and despised now. In fact if he were here I suspect that the citizens would hang him from the closest near-fir tree well before the police could capture him. No, I think he is long gone."

  "Thanks Bjorn. And good luck on your new responsibilities. Your job is going to be very difficult. Victor's shoes are hard to fill, but if anyone can bring order out of our recent chaos its' you."

  "Thanks Abel. I am committed, but we can restore our Commonwealth only as long as the food supply holds out."

  Abel terminated the conversation with a nagging doubt that the food shortage might well become worse before relief arrived.

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Girots System - Ragnarök - Year 3245. December 30 ET: 01:33

  "Time to impact," Silvi asked.

  Mabel responded, "Twelve minutes."

  Silvi suddenly realized she had made a major error as captain and set about immediately correcting it. "Nomi, plot us a course out of here. Get us to the Nelots entry portal by the shortest route. I suspect that that Spikey thing is going to come after us and I wa
nt to adhere to the old SAR axiom, 'Search, Attack, Run.'

  Nomi did not respond, but Silvi could see her begin to work her astrogation station at a furious pace.

  "Pilot Karrlson, begin to pull us away from that thing. Decelerate and re-plot a course to Nelots entry while Nomi works on the true plot."

  "Yes Captain," replied Lennie.

  Matt Brnseon almost yelled in protest, "You can't leave now. What about the people of Girots. You can't just abandon them."

  Silvi and the entire crew knew the truth even if Brnseon refused to accept it.

  Deceleration took time and they still approached the alien ship and its' appearance became clearer the closer they came. About the time Ragnarök reversed course they could make out every detail of the four hundred kilometre wide behemoth. The ship, or object was a better description, seemed to be a lumpy conglomerate of deep space debris held together by a cement like matrix. Covering the entire surface of the ship were tall four sided spikes often measuring two kilometres in height. The lumpy base of the ship had a kind of organic feel to it, but the spikes were clearly technological in origin.

  Nomi quietly said, "I have plot."

  Silvi continued to study the odd alien form as 16 'K' class fusion missiles headed her way. "Mr. Brunner, any movement on that spikey thing?"

  Buddy responded, "No, no movement at all. It's maintaining its orbital position."

  "Nomi," Silvi called, "Can you give me a mass estimate on that thing?"

  Nomi said nothing but returned to her station her fingers flying over the keyboard.

  " 2.98 × 10^8 kg," Nomi called out.

  Silvi almost whistled at hearing the mass of the spikey. "How do they move that thing given all that mass?"

  "Mr Brunner does that spikey thing have an energy signature? If so how big is it."

  Buddy scrolled through his vid screen data. "Yes, it's pretty massive. Looks like fission engines, not fusion. Must be a hard life living with all that radiation. I think she has enough power to move about, but not enough to move with any speed given her mass. No anti-matter signature either."

  Nomi interrupted, "Too big for portal."

  Silvi asked, "Nomi, what do you mean too big for portal?"

  Nomi turned and looked at Silvi which was a surprise. "Spikey is too big. To massive to use the portal."

  Silvi thought a moment.

  Mabel said, "Five minutes to impact."

  "Nomi, you mean it cannot use the portal?"

  Nomi nodded her head.

  Silvi wondered how spikey possibly got here through the vast distances of the void. Without the ability to use portals, and without fusion engines or anti-matter propulsion systems; the only method of travel was at sub-light. Silvi could hardly comprehend such travel. If that spikey thing travelled from the nearest star system close to Girots at sub-light speeds then it may well have travelled for hundreds of years. The very idea of such lengthy travel was hard to comprehend.

  "Impact in one," Mabel called out.

  "Pilot Karrlson give me maximum magnification of that thing. I want to see and assess the impact of the 'K' missiles. Hone in on our expected impact point if you will."

  The vid screen flashed and Silvi saw in exquisite detail the center of the spikey ship. Now with this view she could clearly see the film like covering that held the lump of interstellar debris together. The matrix was obviously organic and to Silvi it seemed to pulsate and flow around the accreted lumps. The spikes Silvi observed were covered with dull metallic plating which was punctuated in a random pattern of octagonal ports. Before Silvi could take a closer look Mabel began the count down.

  "Impact in five, four, three, two, one. Impact."

  The impact of the 'K' missiles was spectacular. Sixteen multi gigaton fusion explosions occurred in rapid succession on the spikey ship. Four missiles struck followed eight seconds later by four more. In 24 seconds 16 'K' class missiles slammed into the middle of the alien ship. Gasses and debris roiled off the surface and the organic matrix seemed to recoil from the explosions. Gasses and plasma flowed into the void in an intense cloud of heat and radiation. On the vid screen with its' intense magnification the result was impressive. But Silvi knew that the spikey was largely undamaged. It was simply too massive for even 16 'K' class missiles. It would take multiple anti-mater torpedoes to have any affect and they didn't have any of the ship killer weapons.

  "Give me a wider view Pilot Karrlson."

  The vid screen view pulled back to display the entire ship. "Like bits of rice falling into a pot of chocolate pudding," Silvi found herself saying. Their attack had practically no real impact on the massive ship.

  Buddy shouted, "She's moving. Coming toward us."

  Silvi took a long look at the vid screen trying to take in every aspect of the spike ridden ship. "Mr. Brunner, what is her acceleration?"

  Buddy turned his attention to his vid screen. "No more than two gravities. Moving that thing must be an enormous effort. I don't see how it can move at all. Oh, and I see an energy spike. She is now putting out three times the power of her fission systems. She shut down that beam that was frying Girots. I would guess that's the max power she can put out."

  "I hope your are right Mr. Brunner. Nomi enter the plot to Nelots and get us out of here. On my mark."

  Buddy interrupted. "Incoming. Six, no eight, of those spikes have detached and are headed our way. Calculating speed and time to impact now."

  "Nomi," called out Silvi. "Mark."

  Nomi responded, "Done." and Silvi felt the ship begin to move under GWP power.

  Silvi thought she should have expected retaliation but detaching those spikes seemed odd.

  Buddy spoke again trying to be as calm and as authoritative as possible, "The spikes are relatively slow but faster than we can accelerate to the Nelots portal. They seem to be fission powered so I would assume fission warheads. Estimated time to impact is 74 minutes assuming no change is speed."

  "Mr Brunner, what counter measures do you propose?"

  Buddy looked up at Silvi. He had never been asked such a question. His mind raced through all the possibilities. "Well I guess we should use more 'K' missiles on proximity fuses. That's what we use on simulator."

  "Go ahead Mr. Brunner. Mr. Mabel Schneider prepare a volley of 16 'K' missiles as per Mr. Brunner's plot."

  Silvi thought a moment. "And Mr. Brunner, are those sand casters of any use here?"

  Buddy responded. "Yes, the incoming is just far enough that those things might be of use. If we fire now they will outrun the 'K' missiles by a lot. Impact would be in..." Buddy paused as he calculated in his head, "Impact would be in less than a minute."

  "Set it up Mr. Brunner and fire as soon as you have a plot."

  Buddy's hands flew over his keyboard.

  Mabel said, "Ready to fire 'Ks".

  Silvi responded "Fire on my mark Mr. Schneider. Mark."

  The ship shuttered with a deck vibration as the 16 'K' class missiles in sets of four on eight second intervals headed toward the incoming eight spikes.

  "Ready on the sand casters Captain."

  "Mr Brunner, please fire now."

  The ship shuddered again but this time with a kind of thudding feel as the sand casters began to accelerate at almost impossible speed toward the incoming spikes."

  "Time to impact Mr. Brunner?"

  Buddy looked intensely at his vid screen. "Impact of the 'Ks' is 53 seconds. The four sand casters will release their cargo of sand in thirteen seconds. Impact of that sand will be at this distance 45% of SOL. Talk about sand blasting." Buddy realized that he should not have said his last comment.

  Silvi laughed which broke the tension on the bridge. "Those spikes will need a new coat of paint when all this is done." Silvi paused a moment. "Give me a countdown on the sand storm Mr. Brunner."

  "Impact in seven seconds."

  Silvi looked intently at the vid screen. She could not see the incoming missiles, but red rectangles had formed on the display o
n the bridge which indicated the location of the incoming spikes."

  Buddy began to count down, "Five, four, three, two, one., Impact."

  Silvi and the crew watched the display as the red rectangles blinked out. All eight flashed briefly to yellow and then disappeared. The incoming had been destroyed.

  "So much for sand." Silvi found herself saying.

  Mabel spoke, "And the 'K' missiles Captain, Should I detonate them for safety?"

  Silvi thought a moment. "Can you redirect them to the spikey ship?"

  "Yes sir. Give me a moment."

  Silvi stood looking at the distant form of the killing machine that had invaded Girots system and inflicted genocide. "Redirect Mr. Schneider. Lets give them a parting gift as we leave this system."

  "Done Captain. It may not kill them, but it is still a good kick in the ass."

  ...

  Nelots System - Ragnarök - Year 3246. January 7 ET: 01:33

  Travel though the portal tunnel from Girots exit to Nelots entrance had taken 200 hours. Since time in the tunnel was uneventful the crew had the opportunity to relax. But the failure of their mission to bring relief to the Commonwealth fell heavily upon everyone. Now they were uncertain of how to proceed, but returning to the Habitat at the utmost speed was their priority.

  Nelots was a rather common system. A very hot M class sub giant surrounded by many burned out cinder planets. Comets encircled the giant at a great distance on the ecliptic and numerous wandering bodies filled the system. Astrogation through Nelots was complex and Nomi had spent several hours plotting their course. Nelots had an entry portal to Arn which led to a 40 hour tunnel to Dello and then another 90 hours or so to the entrance to Jamon. Nelots also had two other exit portals. The EG informed Silvi that one of the exits was a dead end and should be avoided. The other exit was to a system called Wu which unfortunately for its' inhabitants had numerous entry and exit portals. Wu, according to the EG, had tried to stay neutral in the Great War but had failed and suffered the consequences. Both Unity and Greayson had fought battles at WU to control the portals and Wu had seen extensive damage to its' planetary surface. Silvi vaguely remembered that the battles at Wu were the subject of another of the poet Sonolono the Blind but other than the length of the poem she could not remember much. Wu's current state was of course unknown.