After two hours, the Tempestas reached the asteroids and the testing could begin. Slone ordered the ship to stop, just outside the asteroids. He then turned to Consul Lorenzo and said, “Consul, which test would you like first?”
“Captain, I would like to see how the battleship handles.”
Slone turned to his bridge crew, “Sound general quarters.”
The words were hardly out of his mouth and the klaxon went on with the computer saying, “General quarters, this is not a drill,” and repeating it three times. All departments reported ready within 10 minutes and Slone ordered the battleship to move into the asteroid field at half speed. Once among the asteroids Slone began to treat the asteroids as if they were enemy ships.
“Raise battle sails,” Slone ordered and he could hear the motors as the four masts for the battle sails extended and the sails moved up the masts and locked into place. The sails were not designed to move the ship, but rather to allow it to pivot quickly by polarizing them and catching the crosswinds of the system weather. “Ahead standard speed, begin the cadence.” Even though they were not in a true combat situation, the cadence was still used to give orders to the crew. The cadence was a steady, measured drumbeat whose speed indicated how fast the ship should move. The asteroids were close together, but far enough apart that they mimicked a fleet of ships.
“Roll out the guns,” was Slone’s next order and eighty-four gun ports opened as their force fields activated to keep the gun chambers separate from the void of space. The serpent gunners stood at their stations in the loading room just behind the gun chamber and awaited their orders. They were honored to be part of the first crew of the first Romani battleship and they wanted to make sure they did their job well. They also knew that both Tavia and Bill Marshal were stationed aboard with them, and they wanted to make them proud of how they handled themselves.
Slone had Paul McMann con the ship through the asteroid field and he ordered sharp pivots to test its ability to avoid obstacles and pivot rapidly. Finally, the Tempestas was coming up on a ship-sized asteroid, which would pass on its starboard side. Slone looked at Tom Gardner and said, “Open the battle channel.”
“Channel open.”
“Set cadence to attack speed. Starboard gunners, aim at the asteroid passing us.” Slone waited a few seconds, “Starboard guns fire,” Slone said and a thirty-six gun broadside fired on the asteroid. Slone then ordered, “Begin rotation.” This caused the ship to rotate on its long axis to bring the port guns to bear on the asteroid. The first broadside slammed into the asteroid, but the cannon shots were for practice only and no explosions occurred. As soon as the port cannons came to bear, Slone ordered them to fire and a second broadside was sent into the asteroid. As soon as the ship returned to its original orientation, Slone ordered the ship secured from general quarters and ordered the ship taken out of the asteroid cluster. The purpose of the test was to make sure that the changes made did not imbalance the ship and cause the weapon recoils to damage the integrity of the hull.
“A very impressive demonstration, Captain Slone,” Consul Lorenzo said. “This ship handles like a cruiser, yet can stand up to a small fleet.”
“Yes, Captain Slone, even I am impressed,” Alaya said to her husband.
“Then my work is done here,” Christopher replied.
“Ok, my turn now,” Alaya said and then turned to Consul Lorenzo. “With your permission, Consul I invite you and Captain Slone to join me on the Mary Rose.”
Slone turned the bridge over to Paul McMann and he joined his wife and Consul Lorenzo as they exited the rear of the bridge and took the ramp down to the large flight deck. They passed the serpent ships and boarded the corvette, NR Mary Rose. Alaya’s crew was already aboard and the crystal cartridges had been placed in the turreted guns. The sidewalls of the hangar deck were down and Alaya smoothly moved the ship off the deck and clear of the battleship. Alaya piloted the ship into the asteroid cluster. Although the corvette was designed to be controlled in the way of other military ships with the captain sitting and issuing orders, Alaya preferred to fly her own ship, so she had it modified with the flight controls in front of the captain’s chair. Tavia was still the copilot at the regular helm station and she usually did all the flying. In this test, Alaya wanted to control her own ship.
There were shipyard weapon techs aboard to monitor the newly installed energy weapons. Both the weapons station and the captain’s monitor had a shot count for the weapons. Tests indicated that each crystal cartridge was good for at least 100 shots. Beyond that, they were not reliable. The Mary Rose had all of the ten crystal cartridges in existence aboard. The weapon design was elegantly simple. The light source was intense and it had an on/off circuit that broke the beam into pulses. The light then passed through the crystals and was focused and intensified by them. The pulses then passed down the barrel, which had a mirrored inner bore to prevent energy bleed. Since the guns were turreted, the interior of the turret was not pressurized, so replacing the crystal cartridges was difficult during combat. However, since each gun had 100 shots, it was felt the ship would be out of combat before the cartridge ran out.
When they were in among the asteroids, Alaya turned to the Consul and said, “Consul Lorenzo, what would you like me to fire on?”
“Captain, you may do what you would like. Impress me.”
Alaya turned to her weapon tech, a serpent named Deadeye. “Deadeye, I will weave us in and out of the asteroids, hit every one you can from when I give you the signal.”
“Sss. Yes, captain,” Deadeye replied.
Alaya began to weave in and out of the asteroids and then suddenly said, “Fire.”
Deadeye began to work her console and the turret just behind the bridge bubble began to move back and forth rapidly in a 180-degree forward arc. As it moved, Deadeye kept firing as the reticle on her monitor fell on each asteroid. After she fired, she moved on. Everything was done so quickly that those in the bridge bubble could see pulses of energy slamming into asteroids in all forward and side arcs. The impacts were heavy and would have been devastating to a ship up to the size of a destroyer. The corvette was now an excellent offensive weapon and a squadron of them could be very useful. After each gun had fired a full set of 100 shots, Deadeye stopped firing and Alaya took the corvette out of the asteroids.
“Very impressive, Captain Slone, I think I have seen enough. Take us back to the Tempestas, time to head home.”
“Yes, Consul,” Alaya said, then took the ship back to the battleship and landed on the large vessel’s flight deck.
By the following day, they were back in Nova Romae space and the shipyards were given orders to produce a squadron of 10 corvettes with turreted energy weapons. Two weeks later found the Slones sitting in the Consul’s private box at the latest version of Hamlet. The Bard’s masterpiece was set on a mining world where all of the drama of the original played out. Alaya seemed to be enjoying herself and was happy to be with her father. Christopher was in his best civilian dress and trying to enjoy some of the culture to which his wife was constantly trying to expose him. He had to admit, the story wasn’t that bad. He was just getting into it when he noticed the Consul Strabo’s communicator chirped. He stepped out of the box and went into the hall to take the call. Alaya and Christopher followed him out, since they knew he was not to be disturbed unless it was critical. As they came out to join him, the Consul turned to his daughter and son-in-law and said, “I have to leave. Please enjoy the rest of the play.”
“Father,” Alaya said, “is there something we need to know about?”
“A ship entered Nova Romae with a message that may be of the utmost importance to us. I may need both of you, so when the play is over, head back to your home and be ready for new orders.”
Before the Slones could say more, Consul Strabo quickly left the theater.
Alaya looked at her husband, “Well that was strange. I don’t know about you, but my appetite for the theater has left me for today
. I want to get home and spend some time with Olivia. I have a feeling there is something on the horizon for us.”
As the Slones were entering their shuttle for the trip across the continent to their lake house, Consul Strabo arrived at his office. Consul Lorenzo was already there as were some of the primary senators and the members of the consular cabinet. Also present was the crew of the freighter Castalia. Captain Shegai and her crew snapped to attention as Consul Strabo entered.
“At ease, please have a seat and let us know why you sent the message,” Consul Strabo said.
The Castalia crew took the seats offered and Captain Shegai began her debriefing. After discussing her travels and the route she took, she pointed out on a hologram of Highline space the exact system she was in when they discovered the ancient signal. The final part of the presentation showed the tracing of the signal to its point of origin, 734 light years away in Shin Nippon Corporation space. She then waited until that sank in.
When the murmuring died down, Captain Shegai continued, “We analyzed the degraded signal and determined the partial name of the ship as Sakka.... I consulted the computer, the only ship that came up was the Sakkara, and the computer indicated we should immediately return to Nova Romae and report directly to the Consuls, but only after we dock. We were also supposed to indicate the reason for our request to speak with the Consuls should only be SKKR. We followed the instructions immediately and made the year and a half trip back here.” When the captain was finished, she sat down again, having stood to give her report.
“An excellent report, Captain. Your crew is dismissed but I would like you to stay. I have already sent techs to your ship to remove all reference to the Sakkara from your ship’s memory and you and your crew is sworn to silence on this matter. Is that understood?” This last was stated specifically to the crew of the Castalia, who nodded agreement. After the crewmembers left, Consul Strabo faced Captain Shegai and said, “Captain, I have reviewed your file and you have an exemplary record within the legionary intelligence service.”
“Thank you, Consul. I live to serve the Republic,” Arabella responded.
“You will not be returning to your freighter. I have already had your personal effects removed from the ship. You will be temporarily attached to another ship and will help in finding the Sakkara.”
Arabella Shegai knew there was something important about the old ship, but to pull her off her routine surveillance of the Highline Corporation and the corporate war was out of the ordinary. In fact, this entire episode had been out of the ordinary since her crew had the misfortune of picking up a signal from the past. Now she was being reassigned. Arabella would do what she was ordered, but she did not relish wasting years on a wild goose chase.
Consul Strabo continued, this time to all present, “Our techs have analyzed the signal. Though it was degraded, they were able to clean up a good bit of it. I can tell you definitively that the transmission came from the Sakkara.”
The interest of the hearers was now heightened as the identification was confirmed. This was not the first time in the last seven centuries that a report of the Sakkara had surfaced, but this is the first time one had been confirmed. The Senator from the Samnium system rose and said, “At last we have found her, we must send a ship to investigate.” He quickly conferred with the other senators from the original eight systems that started the Republic and then said, “Consuls, you are authorized to send a vessel to investigate and if possible recover the Sakkara.”
“The recovery will be in a corporate warzone,” Juan Lorenzo said, to no one in particular. “I know the ship to send but it will take close to a year just to get to the location and then they will have to drop out of the slipstream at just the right spot between systems. They will need to do that on instruments only. No human can locate the exact spot at slipstream speeds. I think its location is what kept her hidden.”
“I know the only ship I would trust with this and that has the space to recover the Sakkara. The NR Tempestas and her legion can investigate and bring back the ship if it is there,” Consul Strabo said. “It is also large enough to carry the supplies needed for a deep penetration into corporate territory.”
All in the room agreed, the mission would be entrusted to the Slones.
Chapter 2 – A Needle in a Hay Stack
The NR Tempestas had been underway for nine and a half months and now found herself in Shin Nippon Corporation space. Aboard the spacious bridge of the battleship was the primary bridge crew. They were in an uninhabited system and they were heading to the outbound slipstream that would lead them to the Sakkara. The trip had been long and boring. They traveled through Nova Romae space, then through the Border Worlds and finally through most of Petrov Corp space. They refueled and restocked in the last inhabited system of Petrov space and then ran invisible through the rest of the trip. They crossed a small stretch of Sinclair Corporation space and then entered the space controlled by the Shin Nippon Corporation. They were steering towards the slipstream that the computer told them was the closest one to the signal from the Sakkara. Slone sat in the captain’s chair with his wife standing next to him along with Captain Shegai.
“How long until we reach the slipstream?” Christopher Slone asked.
Immediately his navigator, Paul McMann stated, “We still have just over five hours, Captain.”
“Is there any sign of any telemetry coming from the Sakkara?”
This time it was the sensor officer, Roger Umgabe who reported, “No sir, I am not sure there is still transmission going on after eight centuries. We were lucky to pick up the one we did.”
Slone knew this. His orders, given him directly by the Consul Lorenzo, were to drop out of the slipstream between systems at the point the computer calculated the last position of the signal. The problem was the signal traveled for 734 years and in that, time the source was probably not standing still. In that case, they had to decide how far it might have moved and if they had a chance to reach it. The Tempestas was carrying extra fuel that could be used, but it was a big galaxy and there were limits to what could be done. Another several hours passed and Slone went over the plans for the insertion. The ship’s computer had been programmed to depolarize the sails at exactly the right time to drop out of the slipstream. The dropout would happen about a third of the way though the slipstream. The big problem was, no one knew how fast the slipstream was. To send a scout to test it and report back would have added another year and a half to the timetable, and the Romani wanted the Sakkara as soon as possible. Therefore, to sum it up, Slone indicated this was a seat-of-the-pants mission and the dropout would happen suddenly and without warning. To ignore the anxiety this caused, even among the battle hardened Romani, would be to ignore human nature. All humans feared the unknown, and no ship had ever willingly dropped out of a slipstream between systems. At least, there was no one who lived to tell the tale. Only the serpents were unfazed due to their belief in a preset destiny. If this was to be their end, then so be it and do your duty until it comes.
“We will maintain a full bridge crew within the slipstream until we drop out of it.”
Paul McMann now notified Slone that there was less than a half hour to the entrance of the slipstream. The Captain then turned to Roger Umgabe, “Start the computer subroutine to get us to the spot in the slipstream. It will need at least 15 minutes to learn our exact location and monitor the slipstream.”
“Subroutine has been activated,” Umgabe replied.
This was another unknown. The Romani computer techs swear the subroutine will work, but it could not be tested. It is a one shot deal that will only work in the actual slipstream they needed to drop out of. Slone’s head was spinning with all of the variables in this mission.
“Captain, fifteen minutes to slipstream insertion,” Paul McMann said.
“Open the battle channel.”
“Channel open,” Tom Gardner reported.
“This is Captain Slone. We are about to enter the slipstrea
m that will lead us to our destination. This was a need to know mission and now it is your need to know. We are going to enter a slipstream and then exit that stream before reaching the next system. It is our mission to find and secure a derelict vessel outside the slipstream. This vessel is one lost in the Great Spinward Exodus.” Slone could almost feel the surprise running through the human Romani aboard. The serpents had no stake in the Exodus. “The ship will remain on full alert until we exit the slipstream. I hope this will be just a simple exploration and recovery, but we have no idea how far the vessel is from the slipstream or, for that matter, if we can even find it. The Senate is counting on us finding this vessel. I am sure we will all do our duty.”
“Captain, the slipstream is coming up in five minutes,” Paul McMann said.
“What about our subroutine?”
Roger Umgabe responded, “Computer and sensors indicate it is active and knows our position. Good to go.”
“Stop at the very beginning of the slipstream and wait to deploy.”
“We are there. The ship is stopped just inside the beginning of the slipstream.”
Slone was not sure if he hesitated because no one had ever intentionally dropped out of a slipstream, or if he remembered how parents told children there were monsters living outside the slipstreams. He shook his head and had to smile over his childhood fears. “Deploy the sails.” Slone could hear the motors extending the masts and then the three frill sails and the aft sail. As soon as they were fully extended, he gave the order, “Polarize the sails.”
The Sakkara Page 3
