Obsidian Ressurection

by T J Bryan

  Both Nelson Anders and Eon Stallings nodded in agreement. They had assumed as much when the search and rescue mission was first proposed months ago.

  Moments later the crews of Skaga and Skuld stood at attention on the cold deck of the Old Mining Dock. Helen stood next to Abel as he reviewed the crews. "They are very green Abel," Helen quietly commented.

  "And very young," he replied. "I remember something from my recent reading about command and control systems."

  "I have seen you reading quite a bit Abel. Are you trying to become a real Admiral?"

  Abel laughed. "No, I'll never be a real admiral, but I hope to be a good OCN administrator and I am now dedicated to building our fleet to the point that no one will threaten us, our resources, or our new friends."

  "And what was it you read that you remember just now?"

  Abel took a long look at the assembled crews, "War does not determine who is right — only who is left.”

  Abel's inter-tab chimed 13:00 and he took three steps forward to address the crews. "Women and Men of the OCN Skuld and Skaga, The Obsidian Commonwealth Navy expects every woman and man to do their duty." He saluted the crews. They returned the salute and boarded the two SARs.

  "God speed." Helen said. "God Speed."

  Chapter Fifty Three

  Wu System - Ragnarök - Year 3246. July 24 ET: 15:31

  Ragnarök entered the Wu system after 102 days in the tunnel. Greenland followed two hours later. A quick scan of the system revealed that Wu station was active and that other than the debris filled system nothing seemed amiss. Silvi set in a course directly to Wu station, but as they approached they were challenged by a revenue cutter. Moments later Captain Tallsberg of the cutter 'Wu Rising' welcomed them back to the station.

  On Greenland the voyage had been long and boring. There was little for anyone to do but read and run simulations. Emmitt knew that the crews were sick of the simulator, but upon entry to Wu every SAR now had a fully qualified crew. The difference was that the crews had not just mastered basic skill, but had practiced hours and hours of intense combat simulations in order to break the boredom. Emmitt often laughed as he saw the crews sweating and banging the consoles of the simulator because if the crews ever ran into the extinct Unity Navy they would know exactly what to do. Pirates, alien starships, unknown weapons, or a million other threats were another matter. The turning radius of a Unity Dreadnought was one thing, the punch of an alien ship like the Spikey was another.

  Emmitt called Silvi on the comms to report the status of Greenland as they approached Wu station. After summarizing the readiness of all the SAR crews he informed Silvi that Brother Scythe had been murdered. Although he had been kept separate from the refugees somehow someone had killed him with a steel spike. Silvi was not surprised, but told Emmitt to investigate the murder, after all murder was a crime, and that if he found a suspect they would turn the suspect over to Wu for trial. Emmitt said that might be difficult since all 124 of the refugees, including children and toddlers, had confessed to the killing and the body had more than sixty death dealing wounds. Silvi still asked that Emmitt gather whatever evidence could be found and provide a list of names of those who confessed so that Wu authorities might decide what to do. Upon reflection Silvi thought justice was done even if she would have preferred another route to justice.

  Greenland held off from Wu station at about 100 kilometres while Ragnarök docked. Silvi was taking every precaution she could think of to protect her squadron. Captain Smilot and an honour guard of four stood at the hatch to welcome Silvi aboard Wu Station. Smilot was smiling and the first thing Silvi noted was the smell of the air. No longer sickening but clean with a hint of machine oil and disinfectant. A great improvement over the past visit. Further the deck was clean and Captain Smilot and her crew were dressed in worn but sparkling clean uniforms. Uniforms they had made here on the station from supplies they had found somewhere.

  After introductions Smilot invited Silvi for a brief tour of the station. Silvi found the improvements over the last half year gratifying. The passageways were clean and the inhabitants seemed busy in all the tasks needed to sustain a growing community. In one area Silvi saw what must have been a series of school rooms, in another two cafe's seemed busy, and in one passageway she found a crew of sixteen welding steel plate against a weakened bulkhead. Progress Silvi thought.

  Smilot led Silvi into the Monitor Weapons Room and up the spiral staircase and into what had once been the den of the pirate who called himself Wu. The room was spotless and smelled faintly of fresh paint and plasma welds. The throne and dais were gone replaced by several tables and chairs. Standing in the old Station Masters Office were six people who Smilot introduced as the Station Council. The Council was composed entirely of women who made up the bulk of the survivors at Wu. As they shook hands Silvi thought that only six months ago these people were no more than slaves and pawns of a mad man. Now they had formed a government, returned the station to order, and provided for the population.

  Before they could engage in any discussion Silvi asked for word of the OCN. Had any ship come calling at Wu in search of Greenland or Ragnarök? Smilot said that no ship had appeared within the system, and now that they had deep space scanning up and running, thanks to the trade goods provided by Iceland, they would know if anyone entered the system. Silvi was grateful at the news. Hopefully no OCN search crew had ventured on to Harappa and the trap that awaited there.

  Silvi sat as each council member gave a short presentation of their work to date. Of the greatest interest to Silvi was the intention of the council to return Wu Station to its' original purpose; that of a trading post for outlying systems. Captain Smilot had managed to get one of their freighters up and running with new fusion engines again provided by Iceland. They had made one round trip to New Carthago and had successfully concluded a trade deal. Silvi then told them about mining at Sargon and the potential value of the rare earths to be found there. She also cautioned them about the trap at Harappa. Silvi omitted any mention of potential trade in anti-matter. Such a discussion would have to wait until the return to civilization at Wu was a settled matter. She also informed them of the status of Elegy and the Lonely Blue System as well as the 124 refugees aboard Greenland. The council agreed to accept the refugees given that the station lacked the population needed to keep it running. One council member asked what skills the refugees brought with them, but Silvi admitted that she did not know, other than they were clearly highly skilled in surviving in an extremely harsh and cold environment. Silvi went on to describe conditions on Elegy and the murder of Brother Scythe. The council had no sympathy for Brother Scythe. They themselves had only recently suffered and died at the hands of a mad man and revenge was well understood at Wu.

  As the presentation concluded Nellis Freemont the Councillor for Trade and Commerce said that the council wanted to conclude a trade and mutual cooperation agreement with the Commonwealth. Silvi said that she had no authority to conclude such an agreement, but she knew the Assembly of the Obsidian Commonwealth would be open to such an agreement.

  Silvi said, "Establishing trade and ensuring our resources are readily available is critical to the Commonwealth. Wu can play an important part in that trade as an entrepot to New Carthago and other systems in the region."

  "I agree," commented Nellis. "But we need more than just an agreement to act as the trading post of the Commonwealth. We can provide you with critical access to resources but we need more than just a trade agreement."

  "Oh," replied Silvi.

  "Yes, we need a defence agreement. We know that the pirates you defeated here at Wu are not the only ones in our region. The pirates here had some relation with others and we often heard of that relationship. Sometimes they traded with other pirates and other times they waged war with each other. In any event we are pitifully un-prepared to resist another pirate take over. Our cutter Wu Rising can easily fend off a single merchant ship armed with a plasma gun. But if that ship
is armed with missiles, or if it comes in a flotilla of ships, we cannot resist. We need an agreement of mutual protection in order to survive."

  "I agree with you, but I simply cannot make a commitment for the Commonwealth. I suggest you nominate a representative to set your case before our assembly. We would be happy to transport that representative to Jamon and return her either at the conclusion of an agreement or on our next visit to trade."

  Silvi could see obvious disappointment in the faces of the council. They needed assurances now for their continued safety and Silvi could hardly blame them. Wu was still in a fragile state and a defence agreement was desperately needed. Silvi had no doubt that the Council would after arguing for a week or more approve such an agreement, but the delay of almost two months might prove fatal to Wu. Travel time home was 12 days assuming all went well and the return to Wu would take 25 days. Add to that a week or two of senseless arguing called 'debate' and you have almost two months during which anything could happen.

  As they discussed selecting a representative Silvi's inter-tab chimed while at the same time a messenger arrived in the room and quietly spoke to Captain Smilot.

  Silvi thumbed open the vid-com.

  Helen's face appeared "Five ships incoming from Nelots. Six hours out. They could be our expected OCN search ships."

  Silvi looked up toward Smilot. "We have ships entering Wu space."

  "Yes," replied Smilot. "We count five. Probably your search crew from Jamon. It's about time for them to show up."

  "Probably," Silvi responded. But then she began to think. Abel would certainly send a ship, perhaps two. But he would never send five."

  Silvi spoke hurriedly to Helen, "Helen leave the area of Wu station immediately. Find a hole and hide in it. I doubt these ships are from the OCN. Abel would never send every ship he has. Something is not right. Now go hide. And don't scan. Let us scan from Wu Station."

  "Agreed Silvi. Abel is too wise to send everything he has. We will go find a hole not too far, but just far enough. You may need assistance."

  "I intend to take Ragnarök out to meet our new visitor. I'll keep you informed."

  Smilot interjected, "Wu Rising has already left. I am sure Captain Tallsberg will appreciate the company."

  Silvi excused herself and walked quickly to the dock and Ragnarök. As she entered the bridge she asked Buddy what he had on scan.

  Buddy replied, "Five ship signatures inbound from Nelots. One is very large. At this distance it's hard to determine their exact size or configuration. That fleet is not moving very fast. I'd say they are easily 14 to 18 hours out. As they get closer we will know more from scans."

  "Pilot Karrlson, take us out to that incoming fleet. Best speed please."

  "Aye, aye, Sir."

  "Where is Wu Rising?" asked Silvi.

  Buddy replied, "About eight minutes ahead of us. We wont catch her. She is really putting on the speed and a light cutter like Wu Rising is as fast as Ragnarök in system on reaction engines."

  Silvi sat in her Captains Chair and waited as Ragnarök got underway.

  Silvi knew better than to pester Buddy with questions. Buddy knew his job and when an update on his scans was ready he would not hesitate to tell her. But as two hours passed Silvi became increasingly anxious. Was this the OCN search effort or something else; perhaps a trading fleet from some distant system, or a group on an exploratory mission? However Silvi knew that no trading fleet that large would enter an unknown system or a system who's status was lost in time. Further, exploration was usually performed by single ships. No, Silvi though, this fleet is something else.

  Buddy called out, "Wu Rising is hailing the incoming ships. I have tagged the fleet on the vid screen as Alpha One through Five."

  Silvi stood.

  "What the...," Buddy said. "Silvi, I mean Captain, one of those ships is huge. Dreadnought size. Give me a minute."

  Moments later Buddy continued, "Your not going to believe this but that big ship is a Unity Dreadnaught. Our scan system is particularly adept at spotting and classifying Unity Ships even though their extinct. Or they were until today."

  "Tell me more Mr. Brunner"

  Buddy returned his attention to his scan. "The Unity Dreadnaught is classified by our scan system as Unity Class D - 41a. There are so many variations of Unity Dreadnaughts it makes your head spin. I have tagged it Alpha 3, and she has a very weak energy signature. Alpha 3 is running at about a 10th of her recorded power rating and her engines are leaking like hell."

  Silvi studied the vid screen and in the distance she saw five small overlapping red circles and an additional green circle nearer and ahead which denoted Wu Rising.. "Give me a magnification on Wu Rising." The vid screen blinked and the green circle expanded to reveal Wu Rising headed straight toward the incoming fleet. "Mr. Brunner advise Wu Rising of our discovery of a Unity Dreadnaught and advise..."

  A brilliant flash erupted on the vid screen and the crew watched as Wu Rising was pulverized and reduced to dust and plasma.

  "Battle stations everyone." Silvi said without having to say the order.

  "Pilot Karrlson pull us out of here and toward some large rock or bit of debris. We need to assess the situation. Notify Helen to be prepared to launch her SARs at a moments notice." Silvi thought a moment, "Tell Helen to hold the Banshees and not to launch them unless the situation become dire, and then only to run home."

  Silvi felt the gentle pull of the Ragnarök as she changed direction.

  Buddy shouted, "I have more data from our scan."

  "Go ahead Mr. Brunner."

  "The other ships are not of Unity design. In fact only two are similar to each other. It looks like a hodge podge of ships of different age, design, and capability. Alpha One is very very old and is on fission propulsion. Not much larger than Ragnarök. Alpha Two looks like a converted freighter with perhaps only two operating Fusion engines. Alpha four looks like a converted liner of some kind but has the same engine type as Alpha One. Hard to tell at this distance. Alpha five is a warship. Looks like a destructor class."

  "Weapons Mr. Brunner?"

  "We need to get closer. But even as we hide they are going to close on us as they approach Wu. We should know more about weapons in perhaps half an hour. They are not moving fast. There engines appear tired; perhaps lacking maintenance or simply worn out."

  Silence descended on the bridge of Ragnarök. No one spoke for 20 minutes. Then Buddy broke the silence. "Ok, I have weapons info now. Alpha One has one missile tube forward for a 'B' class missile. 'B' class is a 100 megaton nuke. Alpha One is very old. Our defence database classifies it as a Carnos System fast frigate more than 720 years old. 'Fast' is something of a euphemism here since her specs put her maximum speed at about 16% of ours. However her weak propulsion engines will make her really slow. Armour is thin."

  Buddy paused a moment to read his scan before continuing, "Alpha Two is a freighter our system identifies as originating from the Ajax System. It's about a fourth the size of Greenland and her engines are very weak but probably the strongest of the entire group. She seems to have two anti-matter missile tubes welded to her exoskeleton. That would imply no autoloaders. Alpha Four is a small passenger liner for which we have no registry history or system of origin but the engine signature tells me she is from Ajax. But she is rather conventional in design. Supports less than 1,000 passengers and a crew of equal size. I can see no weapons. Alpha five however is a Destructor class ship and if in good condition is an easy match for Ragnarök if her crew is skilled and her engines tuned. I am not sure about the crew, but her engine maintenance leaves much to be desired, and that does not reflect well on the crew."

  "And the Dreadnaught?"

  "A Unity Class D - 41a Dreadnaught is probably the best Unity has, or had. She supports 40 missile launchers like our 'K' class with autoloaders, but the real punch is eight anti-matter torpedo tubes. That bugger has a real sting, but as I said her propulsion system is a mess. With something that massive the
engines needed to propel it at any speed need to be well maintained and those engines are not. I would say that she is the slowest thing in the fleet, and as you know fleets generally travel only as fast as the slowest ship."

  Silvi spoke out loud but really to herself, "So this is not Unity resurrected, but more probably some gathering of abandoned or derelict ships re-crewed for commerce or raiding. Perhaps both."

  "I have an audio hail from the Alpha fleet intended for Wu station. I don't think they know we are in the neighbourhood."

  "Put the hail on speaker Mr. Brunner."

  "... and again I say to Wu Station, surrender to the forces of the Empire of Eznia. You will receive only one warning. You are to surrender immediately for we will turn your station to plasma."

  "Mr. Brunner please inform Wu Station of our information to date. Tell them we plan to engage these intruders well before they reach their strike zone."

  Moments later the message repeated itself warning Wu station to surrender and telling them they will receive only one warning.

  Silvi thought that people dealing from strength who offer only one warning do not repeat the warning over and over again. "Mr. Brunner give me comms to Greenland."

  Moments later Silvi was talking to Greenland. "Helen what is the status of your SARs? Do we trust their green crews in combat?"

  Helen thought a moment, "We have four SARs fully trained, but as you know one can never really train for combat. Róta with Jason Mills is the best, but Hildr with John-Paul Holgata is right behind them in readiness. Brynhildr with Vidar Thoranson has my confidence. Of course our best rated SAR is Sváva with the Banshees. But I agree with you if we get in trouble I'll have them run home. I'll tell them it is to notify the Commonwealth and that should pacify their astonishing aggressive tendencies while flying Sváva.