by T J Bryan
"Incoming. We have incoming. This is not a drill. Severan Portal"
Area Commander Toni Hamilton had been day dreaming in her office just off the bridge and was startled by the announcement of an incoming ship. The mention of the Severan Portal made Toni's stomach churn. Severan was the favourite entry point of the dumbbells. She waited a moment and after the message was repeated several times she drew a breath of relief. Protocol called for the immediate identification of Megra ships, and the announcement had not contained the dreaded word 'dumbbells'. Therefore it was someone else.
"Incoming, unknown ship type. I repeat unknown ship type." called out Lars Ulf on defence.
Well thought Toni that will make the evening more interesting. The incoming ship was not OCN, and not an ally, or even one of the trading systems she had come to know.
Moments later Lars continued, "She has stopped at the Severan Portal minefield. Apparently she is listening to the beacon warning against unescorted passage."
"Hail the ship Mr. Ulf. Confirm with Wu Station the availability of the cutter Wu's Advance to heave to for inspection of the incoming ship."
After a few moments Lars continued, "The incoming ship is the Chieftain of Yuwen out of the Xitang system."
"And their intentions?" asked Toni.
"Her Captain says the Emperor of Xitang seeks alliance against the monsters of space they call the Curved Dragons."
"How long till Wu's Advance can inspect the Chieftain of Yuwen?"
Lars replied, "About six hours. Chieftain of Yuwen is about another sixteen hours out from Wu Station following inspection."
"Dispatch Eir to provide additional coverage for Wu's Ascending. Tell Captain Menendez I want a full 'M' scan as the ship passes in system. Alert New Hildr to standby. Contact Captain Smilot and tell her we advise that the Chieftain of Yuwen dock at Wu Station."
Toni returned to her office just off the bridge of Holgata Station. Where the hell is Xitang she wondered as she reached for her inter-tab. Soon she was reading a full but frustratingly brief description of the Xitang system and its' culture. Xitang was quite close in tunnel time to Severan but a long way from Wu on a return trip. If a ship left Xitang at even a moderate speed it would arrive at Wu in about a month. Xitang was only two days out of Severan and then 28 days in the Severan Wu tunnel. The return voyage would take almost eight months and travel through six different systems none of which Toni knew. She would read the EG later about those systems but for the moment she found Xitang fascinating.
Toni read that well before the diaspora from old Earth more than 4,100 years ago, much of the Asian continent had been subject to a hundred year drought that brought disease and violent weather in its' path. These were still the early days of space travel and the portals with their knot lines were only recently discovered. The old Imperial Survey Service would not be formed until almost two hundred years later.
Desperate to flee the drought a small population of less than two thousand souls from a wealthy city named Xitang managed to purchase an obsolete starship and set out for the nearest portal from earth. They had no idea where they were going, but only that remaining on earth they would die as did almost fifteen billion others. Then they disappeared.
The EG said little about Xitang except its' ancient origins and its' few knot line connections. The current state of Xitang and even its' state during the last three thousand years was unknown.
The SAR Göndul with Captain Kata Park was docked at Holgata Station and Toni headed down to the dock to have Göndul take her to Wu Station. If the visit had simply been a trade inquiry she might have waited for Smilot to assess the opportunity, but since the Xitang were calling for an alliance she knew she needed to be present for introductions. Two hours later Göndul docked at Wu, Toni boarded the station and Göndul rose high above the station for additional protection. No one was taking any chances.
Extensive repairs had been underway at Wu Station and supplies from Jamon in the form of pre-fab station sections as those used on Holgata had both expanded the size of Wu Station but also improved its' safety. Much of the older make shift components had been discarded and sent crashing into the dead surface of Wu itself.
The OCN now maintained a small crew quarters on the station for visiting crew and Toni headed toward the quarters. Chieftain of Yuwen would not dock for at least fourteen hours and Toni could use some rest. Toni entered the small lobby of the OCN quarters that somehow had earned the nickname 'Ironwood'. Toni had thought it had something to do with the extensive wood panelling and wooden furniture brought to Wu from New Carthago, but she later learned it was a Norse name for some mythical home of some Norse gods or perhaps fearsome monsters. To Toni's amusement she noticed a knotted rope hanging on the wall behind the check in station.
Toni stepped to the Iris scan but before she could check in Captain Smilot appeared.
"Any further word from Chieftain of Yuwen?" asked Tony as she walked to a set of comfortable chairs in the corner of the lobby.
Smilot followed. "They seem to have taken a chance on finding us. Apparently our fight with the Megra, in fact the very existence of Wu Station itself is mostly a rumour among Xitang's trading partners. Seems they are desperate to find some aid and took a chance."
Toni sighed. "Another waif in a storm. We are already so thin now that there is no way we will be able to help Xitang with anything other than advice. Do we know their level of technical achievement, or for that matter the capabilities of their ship?"
Smilot sat. "The ship is an odd one. It's an annulus in shape. Looks like ring or a thin doughnut. Why the shape I have no idea. But the scan reveals she has weapons tubes and a lots of them. Powered by fusion engines and reaction mass. There is an anti-matter signature from the ship but it is weak. Either it is well shielded or she is not carrying enough for an explosive. Also she has some battle scars, and they look recent."
Toni thought a moment. "God how I wish someone would bring something to the party rather than begging for protection while empty handed."
"Well, the fact that they are here would indicate they can't take on the Megra alone. So don't get your hopes up just yet."
"Thanks Captain Smilot. But right now I need to turn in. Can you ping me about two hours before Chieftain of Yuwen docks."
"Sure," replied Smilot. "Till tomorrow."
Toni had a hard time falling to sleep. The length of her prosthetic arm throbbed with pain, but she knew that it was her brain that hurt and not the long gone arm. She still had nightmares about battles with dumbbells that had resulted in the loss of her arm and one eye. Tonight was no different.
She hardly slept and then she was about to get out of bed when her vid-com pinged. It was time to get up and the message read that Captain Smilot would be waiting in the lobby in thirty minutes. Toni quickly showered, found her dress whites with their Commodore stripes on the lapels, and left the quarters.
Smilot greeted her in the Ironwood lobby and together they set out for one of the diners on the high promenade of Wu Station. Smilot and Toni talked little during breakfast. There was little new to speak of and the short update on the Chieftain of Yuwen had little new to offer other than the anti-matter signature had proven false. Scans performed by Wu Station, with its more powerful station based scanning systems, had revealed no anti-matter signature at all.
After lingering over breakfast the two set out for the public dock. As they arrived six armored station police joined them at the main hatch. Out the plasticene window Toni watched in amazement at the annulus approached. It did look like a thin doughnut thought Toni, but in this case it was very smooth and rather shiny. More like a sugar syrup covered doughnut.
Toni watched the telltale above the hatch turn from yellow to green as the hatch slid open.
Two men stepped on to the deck of Wu Station and Toni was amazed at their dress. One man was dressed in heavy brocade which Toni clearly saw was laden with heavy gold and silver thread. On his head he wore a cap of red silk
that was crowned with an ivory spike. As Toni looked closer she could see the forms of dragons on the heavily brocaded gown and to her amazement the dragons seemed to move and twist about. The sleeves of the garment almost touched the deck and the man had shoes like slippers made of silk. Everywhere on the garment was exquisite detail and the most exacting tailoring. The sight Toni realized was intended to show unlimited wealth and power. The second man was similarly dressed but the colours were muted and the garments cut and decorated in a bit less ostentatious fashion. However the second mans clothes almost took her breath away in their beauty and ostentation.
Smilot stepped forward, "Welcome men of Xitang. I am Captain Smilot in charge of our station and this is Commodore Toni Hamilton Area Commander of the Obsidian Commonwealth Navy."
The more modestly dressed man, if indeed his clothing could be called modest, stepped forward. "I am Chief Minister of the Left, Xiahou. And this is my Emperor, ruler of the celestial skies, Dragon of Xitang, Protector of the Vassal States, Immortal of the Ages..."
The Emperor laughed and cut the Chief Minister off. "If we let Xiahou go on it will be almost an hour before you know my name. You may call me Li Bain. I am here to seek aid and alliance with your Obsidian Navy. I do not expect charity. I have much to offer."
Chapter One Hundred Six
Jamon System - Collegium, Naval Wing - Year 3248 September 2 ET 09:21
Professor Hamza Lynn, head of the Metallurgy Department of the Collegium, Jason Lambert PhD, and Martin Kárason, an interrupted undergrad, listened intently as Abel outlined his plans for a fortress moon at Cranmore. Abel liked Professor Lynn whom he found to be a man focused on results rather than academic erudition. Abel thought of Hamza as more like an engineer than a teacher. Jason he knew as well from his work developing OCN mines, and Martin had spent months as Toni Hamilton's 'fixer' working on the initial construction of Holgata Station. Martin's completion of his education kept being interrupted as the OCN kept giving him important project management assignments. Martin was rather abrupt in his interactions with others, and he often appeared to be a nervous wreck, but he got things done and done on time. Jason was quite different and was patient but extremely creative. The design and construction of the first OCN mines had been accomplished in a remarkably short time by using materials found within the fabrication yards of the Habitat. The new seeker mines were his idea as well and were delivered quickly because they were put together with parts readily found within the Commonwealth. Jason's designs were practical and quick to implement.
Hamza Lynn was standing before a vid screen of the Cranmore System. Abel had admitted that other than the location and importance of Cranmore as the hub of almost a dozen knot lines, he knew little else about the system.
"There is no need here to go over the importance of Cranmore. We all know that we must blockade the system to protect human space," Hamza said.
He continued, "The two planets of Cranmore, Cranmore itself, and Borneo, are now nuclear nightmares. Which faction in the Great War did the damage we don't know, but stepping foot on either planet would result in a very bad death probably within hours. The moons of either system however presented opportunities and the most favorable one is a small but extremely dense one that orbits Borneo. The moon, which is almost pure nickel, is according to the EG, named 'Borneo's Prince'. A moon as solid at the Prince, would be highly resistant to almost every weapons system we know. Not entirely safe, for a prolonged bombardment by anti-matter weapons would eventually destroy almost any moon, but it would take continuous and long lasting bombardment to cause significant damage."
Abel interrupted, "And the orbit of Prince? Is its' ability to target the entry portal from knot lines within the Cranmore system, obscured on occasion by the planet it orbits?"
"Yes, but that is true of all three moons within the Cranmore system. For about one hour in every sixteen the line of sight to the entry portal from Osaka or Pope Leo is blocked. In system transit time from both of those portals to the exit to Girots is 26 hours in the case of Osaka, and 22 hours for Pope Leo at what we know is the best speed of a dumbbell. In the worst case, a ship entering from either portal would be targeted no later than an hour after entry. If the portals were heavily mined then any ship attempting to crawl through the minefield would be lucky to have traveled 100,000 kilometres by the time Prince could launch an attack. I don't think a one hour blockage would have any negative effect on our proposed fortress moon."
"And how long to construct the fortress on the moon?"
"Ah," replied Hamza. "There are challenges here, especially in constructing the fortress in the time you have asked for Abel. The Mining Alliance says it would take a year, perhaps more, to tunnel deep enough into Prince to provide both space and protection to the forty or so fusion engines need to power the neutron gun. Remember Prince is almost solid nickel. Additionally we would need quarters for any crew and that would take time to construct as well."
Abel fought to not show his frustration at the idea of a year long delay in his plan to blockade Cranmore. He shook his head.
"However," Professor Lynn said. "If we use the neutron gun, at a low power setting we might well carve a hole in Prince suitable for constructing a station."
"And how long would that take?" asked Abel.
"To make the hole and expand it a bit, possibly a week or two. But then it might well take a month for the hole to cool enough for interior construction to begin. If the interior sections of the fortress were pre-fab and built here at Jamon we could begin construction in perhaps a few weeks as it cooled."
Abel found himself smiling. "And this hole would it be open at the surface. That sounds like a weakness."
Hamza replied. "Well, Martin had a suggestion that I think is quite sound, We will not make a cylindrical hole, but rather a cone shaped hole with the small end at the surface of Prince and the larger base well inward and protected by the nickel in the moon. That's why a month might be required for it to cool.
"Do we have enough fusion engines in reserve?" asked Abel knowing that their profligate use of Greayson fusion engines stripped from the supply ship and lately from the wrecked dreadnoughts was likely to soon be exhausted.
"I checked that yesterday. Helen assures me that another hundred or so fusion engines can be found on the wrecked dreadnaught 9905."
Abel was pleased, but he knew that even fusion engines would soon be exhausted by the war and that they needed another source of engines. Engines from Polis might do, but dealing with the dictator of Polis was fraught with problems both moral and practical, but that mattered little now given that the Megra at Maya may well make passage to Polis impossible.
"When do we start?" asked Abel.
"We began yesterday. Helen ordered Greenland to begin transferring engines from 9905, and I asked four of my grad students to begin drawing up plans for the pre-fab units for the fortress based on our work for Holgata Station. I intend to move one of the neutron guns to Greenland as soon as Emmitt gives me the ok. We should be able to tap into Greenland's power source and carve out the fortress. The two critical factors will be the time needed for the construction of the pre-fab units, and the completion of a survey of Prince. The pre-fab units can be manufactured while the hole is cut and as the moon cools, but we need to survey Prince first. I don't want to build a fortress with a major cleft or crack in the area we place our gun. Once Greenland is loaded, in say a week, we can go."
Abel began to calculate in his head travel times, delays, fab construction, cooling time, and a dozen other variants. Travel time from Jamon via Girots would take more than 17 days. Digging, or rather melting the hole might take a week or two. Then another three weeks to cool. A return run by Greenland for prefab parts would add delay but that would be during the cooling period. Then another month for construction. At best he might have a blockading fortress in two months or three months, but he knew that was optimistic and wars were not won on optimism. Four months was more likely.
&nbs
p; In the meantime he would rely upon heavily mining the portals at Cranmore and dispatching SARs on picket duty. One of his SAR's he would arm with two of his precious four remaining anti-matter torpedoes.
As the meeting broke up Bennet Nolo entered. "Admiral. It is Terrence Van Vos from the Fabricator's Guild. He insists on speaking with you."
Abel responded, "Show him in Bennet. And after Van Vos who needs to talk with me next?"
"Gabby Ozols from the Miner's Guild needs to speak with you about their new proposed safety standards and the impact on rare earths production. Then there is Alice Brunner head our OCN Department of Procurement, Distribution, and Audit She is insisting on adding 14 more uniformed staff. After that you need to meet with Tremont Vin, Assembly member for the Sixth District about your new housing proposal for the OCN crews, and after that..."
Abel waved his hands and Bennet stopped. "Ok, lets get on with it. Show Terrence in."
Moments later Terrence Van Vos entered. Abel rose and shook Terrence's hand. They had known each other since childhood and in the dark days of the Thorgaut coup attempt Van Vos had proven a stable ally.
"Can I get you a coffee?" asked Abel.
"No, I just had three cups."
Abel looked at Terrence. "Yes, I needed three cups to get up the courage to speak with you Abel."
Abel realized that Terrance had something critical to say. "Please sit Terrence. What's on you mind?"
Terrence sat uncomfortably for a moment seeking the right words. From Terrence's posture Abel knew that Terrence had thought through his words, but upon seeing Abel had lost them.
"It's about the hours Abel." Abel suddenly knew what was coming as he and Emmitt had spoken frequently about the demands placed on the Fabricator's Guild by the many projects of the OCN and then added to that by Nomi's project.
Terrence continued having found his words and was speaking very fast in order to get them all out before Abel interrupted. "I have my crews working 18 hours a day for six days a week. We have been working like this since you began your mine and missile projects, and now this thing that Nomi wants. Abel, I know how important this work is, and I know the Megra lie just outside our system waiting to blow us to shreds, but we just can't keep this level of effort up. There are too many mistakes, and the injury rate is increasing. It's not just the death of Dixon Kelly, but the dozens of small accidents that are happening every day. A broken arm here, a lost finger there, a bad burn from a plasma welder..."
