by John Walker
“The fabrication center is quite large and takes up the majority of the center of this craft. I can turn out a functional drone every twenty minutes. It takes another ten to transport them to the various hangars. If we double production, which is quite possible, we can get two point five out every half hour. This puts a strain on the manufacturing facility but can be quite important during combat.”
“Will it have any side effects on what we’re trying to fix up here?” Maria asked. “We can’t afford to lose time on our current work.”
“No, ma’am. Now that I’m patched back in, I’ve set the generators down there to stand alone. They will operate without any impact on other ship systems.”
“It’s a wonder you guys lost to the enemy,” Olly said. He patched through to Captain Hoffner. “Sir, Sid has cranked on a manufacturing plant to build more drones which we should be able to deploy against the enemy and it’s doing it pretty fast too. I expect they’ll be able to actually provide some assistance, albeit minor, soon.”
“Is that safe, Darnell?”
“Yes, sir. I believe so.”
“We’re going to check it out,” Hoffner replied. “I think we’ll map out the rest of the ship and see if we can find anything you need. That includes securing the supply bay where the spare parts will be found.”
“Fantastic,” Olly said. “Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Likewise, keep us informed of anything else you do. Hoffner out.”
“He sounded unhappy,” Maria said.
“Don’t worry about it,” a passing marine said. “He never sounds happy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Maria and Olly exchanged glances. “I’m going to start rerouting now. I’ve found some decent paths to bypass many of the damaged systems. I’m guessing…fifteen to twenty minutes to pull it off.”
“Sounds good…but if you can hurry…”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do what I can, sir.”
“Lieutenant?” Lisa called. “These globes, I’ve finally got some readings on them.”
“Report.” Olly couldn’t believe he got to use the word. It’d been directed at him so often, he figured he’d never have the chance to toss it at someone else. Now that he did, he couldn’t help but smirk.
“These are essentially portable generators to keep the chambers going in the event of power failure. They’re remarkable because they recharge fast when not in use and would afford each tube a good eight to thirty hours of power in the event of energy interruption.”
Olly raised a brow. “Eight to thirty is a huge difference. Why the discrepancy?”
“The things are playing havoc with my tablet. That’s the best I can do before I finish my evaluation.”
“Keep it up and let me know. Maybe we can use these to power the whole chamber and wake somebody up.”
“Okay, I’ll keep working on it.”
“Sir, I might have access to a few tables on the database,” Cathleen said. “I’ve just found a backdoor into one of the file servers.”
“Really? How?”
“I saw an open connection through this console over here and tried it. Shockingly, it let me in and I’m rebooting this particular segment. I might gain full access.”
“Great work!” Olly truly was impressed. “Did you discover anything right away?”
“Just some fringe bits of data. A couple of lines I’m having Sid translate. The first thing to come through states that the people who entered those chambers had no idea what to expect. This part of the technology was brand new to them.”
“Wow, they risked a lot,” Lisa said. “Crawling into those things without knowing they’d wake up again? Scary.”
“Seriously.” Cathleen shook her head. “I’ll let you know when it finishes.”
“Sounds good, Olly said. “In the meantime, help Maria get this working. I’m going to keep trying to bring systems online. This ship’s a gold mine of power pockets and auxiliary systems. I’m guessing we’re standing in a prototype…an untested one.”
“That information is currently locked. I cannot access it at this time.”
Olly repeated Sid, “I cannot access it at this time, yeah, I know.” He tapped away and continued to work. But that won’t be the way it is for long, buddy. Don’t worry, I’ll get your access back. Sooner or later, you’ll remember everything this ship planned to tell the friendly culture that found it and then we’ll drive the enemy back.
Just hold together for me and we’ve got this.
***
Hoffner lead a small contingency of marines away from the hangar and in the opposite direction the technical crew went. He brought five men, each trailing behind to watch their six as they progressed deeper into the vessel. The long, smooth hallway seemingly went on forever, twisting and turning in seemingly random directions.
He assumed they passed by invisible doors, access points to rooms or other hallways but there was no way to know for sure. The way the blue light lit up in the ceiling proved that at least the surface of the metal must be transparent. Those who planned to live aboard must’ve had a method to know where to stop but he detected no marks anywhere as they traveled.
“AI,” Hoffner called out. “Direct us to the supply room.”
“Affirmative, Captain,” Sid replied. “Please follow the green line to your destination.”
The light appeared overhead and directed them to continue along. It ended in a wall but as they approached, the surface melted away, granting access to another hallway. Without Sid, getting lost would be too easy. Hoffner checked his tablet and ensured he mapped a way back to the hangar. If something happened, he didn’t want to be stuck for too long.
This place is a real maze. Why had the people built it in such a way? Perhaps the design presented a defensive capability. Like old castles with their uneven stairs, only the inhabitants knew them precisely. It tripped up invaders. Such a convoluted layout provided the same type of confusion. Security by design.
Damn inconvenient but I get it. Hoffner glanced back at his men. They seemed uneasy. Any alien contact might’ve brought the same reaction but this place felt particularly foreign. The allegation they might have encountered a bug race certainly didn’t help. Media villainized insects for a long time. Even if the creatures proved benevolent, the human mind was predisposed toward revulsion.
“Captain,” Olly’s voice piped over his communicator. “How’re you doing? Have you located the supplies?”
Hoffner looked ahead and sighed. “I think we’re getting close. This place is pretty confusing.”
“I’m going to send you a ping so you can get back to us if you have to,” Olly replied. A moment later, Hoffner’s tablet made a sound and he saw a blip some distance off. “Did you get it?”
“I did. Thanks, Darnell.” Hoffner glanced up. They were still following the green line. “We still seem to be moving away from you guys.”
“Not a surprise. I think you’ll find the supplies near an access point to the engineering section.”
“I don’t want to get too close to the fabrication thing you talked about,” Hoffner said. “Do you know how far off we are from it?”
“It’s several decks below us. It would take a lot to stumble on it.”
Hoffner nodded. “Glad to hear it. We’ll let you know when we find what we’re after.”
Another several hundred meters later, they came upon another door that melted away, granting them access to a large chamber full of metal crates. They fell in and cleared the room, checking every corner before considering it entirely safe. Sourceless lights beamed overhead, shining down on the glimmering floor and surfaces.
It’s unnerving that everything looks like liquid metal. Hoffner frowned. But this must be the place.
“AI, can you open these crates?”
“Press the sides and they will open of their own accord. Please note, the contents have been held in a perfect vacuum to protect them from decay. It should
be anything you need for further repairs on the ship.”
Hoffner knelt beside one and did as he was instructed, pressing near the top of the first crate he came to. The top seemed to melt backwards and vanish into the back, revealing a neatly stacked set of cables and other odd parts he couldn’t identify. He checked another before connecting with Olly again.
“We’ve found at least one supply area. This technology…the way the doors open and the crates work…it’s pretty extraordinary.”
“That’s what we’re finding,” Olly replied. “Luckily, the internal systems aren’t as strange. We’re able to make effective changes.”
“Do you want us to start bringing this stuff to you?”
“Just catalog it if you can,” Olly said. “If it’s close to the engineering section, we might need it down there. Once you’ve got a good reading on all the parts, send it to my tablet and keep looking for another room.”
“We’re on it.” Hoffner turned to his men. “Okay, men. Let’s get these open and figure out what’s in them. God knows what we’ll need and when so don’t miss any boxes. You saw how I opened it. Get to it. We’re on a tight schedule here.”
Hoffner was happy they had something to do. Standing around in the hangar gave men time to think. A little busy work would keep them occupied. The last thing they needed was idle chatter and worry. Morale suffered from that kind of thing and he couldn’t afford it. Not on an alien vessel in the middle of a battle zone with other alien vessels bent on their destruction.
Just another day in the corps, I guess. Let’s just hope it’s not our last.
Chapter 10
The Behemoth followed the Silver Star for nearly fifteen minutes, heading into the empty space between Mars and Earth. Their pursuers maintained a sizable distance but did not falter. Gray wondered what exactly they were waiting for and why they hadn’t engaged again. Maybe they needed a minute to evaluate their enemy.
I doubt those jerks are surprised often. Gray watched his tablet and observed various reports across the ship. Fighters were refueled and ready for launch. He had a few ideas of how to prolong the fight, to give his men aboard the Silver Star the time they needed. How many tricks he could employ remained to be seen.
“Sir, the enemies are picking up speed,” Paul’s voice brought Gray out of his thoughts. “They seem to be ready for another bout.”
Gray tapped the com and hooked up with Revente. “I need you to launch the fighters and have them slow those bastards down.”
“How do you mean? Our weapons can’t penetrate their shields.”
“Nor have they launched any of their own fighters yet,” Gray replied. “I’m sure they’ve got them and they’ll come out soon. If they have any regard for their people, they’ll have to provide support. That will give us what we need to keep out of their reach. We’re buying time here, Estaban and I need your help.”
“We could try the bombers again,” Revente offered.
Gray shook his head. “No, they’ve already proven they can knock the projectiles out before they get close. We’d be putting a lot of pilots at risk for nothing. What we need is fast and agile. Get those jockeys out there and let them do what they do best. Nip at the heels.”
“Okay, we’ll do what we can.”
“Keep sending your report feeds to the bridge.” Gray killed the connection. “Are they trying for weapon lock, Paul?”
“Negative, sir. I’m not reading any locks.”
“Redding, do we have range?”
“Extreme,” Redding replied. “I might be able to take a pot shot but at this distance, evasive wouldn’t be hard. Turn a direct hit into a graze…and that’s all they have to do.”
“Understood. If they close within medium range, something we can guarantee a direct hit with, tell me right away. I want to keep stabbing at them.”
“Perhaps we need to turn to the offensive,” Clea said. “It would not be expected.”
“Nor are we entirely ready,” Gray replied. “Two against one…no. We need an advantage in that fight and right now, the Silver Star isn’t providing it.”
“Sir, I’m reading a debris net coming up starboard,” Tim said. “Looks like civilian crews marked it for clean up next week.”
“What kind of debris?” Gray asked. “Natural?”
“Seems to be the fall out of some kind of mining operation. A fair sized asteroid was here and they broke it up.” Tim took a moment to finish reading. “I’m reading rocks and spent supplies from the operation. It’s just waiting for a recycling run.”
“How big is it?” Everly asked.
“One point five kilometers around,” Paul replied. “They really gathered a lot of crap. Wow, I bet that job’s boring.”
Gray smiled.
“What’re you considering?” Clea said.
“Something like a mine field,” Gray replied, clicking over to Revente. “We’ve got some debris up ahead. Can you see it on your scans?”
“Yes, I’ve got it.”
“Do you think your pilots can take care of that net?”
“For what purpose?”
“I’d like to give our friends a gift,” Gray said. “If we can spread it behind us, I’m pretty sure it’ll provide some decent camouflage.”
“Won’t their shields deflect it?”
“Yes, but I’m not done. We’ll jettison a few pulse bombs into the mess but not too many. I don’t want them picking up the weapon signature in their scans. When they get close, we’ll remote detonate and see if that doesn’t give them the bloody nose we’re hoping for.”
Revente hesitated for several moments but finally replied. “Okay, I like it. We’re on it.”
“Be sure they open the net then spread the stuff but not too thin or it won’t cover up the bombs.”
“You think it’ll work?” Clea asked.
“Depends on what result you’re after,” Gray turned to her. “If you’re asking do I think it’ll blow one of them up, no, I don’t. But I do believe it’ll make them be cautious and again, buy us some time.”
“Clever.”
“I go easy on you when we play chess.” Gray turned to Redding. “Make sure you get us closer to the Silver Star. Keep your distance from the net. This is one of those things where you only have one shot to get it right and those pilots will definitely need us out of the way.”
***
Meagan and Panther wing raced away from the Behemoth, preparing for a guerrilla battle. They’d practiced harassment techniques plenty of times before in war games with the Behemoth. She remembered grueling hours spent dodging weapon lock and blasting away with quarter power shots at the delicate parts of their targets.
This will be no different. It’s a phrase she used on her pilots just before they launched again but she barely believed it herself. Live fire always made things different. The Behemoth wanted them to learn a lesson, not obliterate them from the sky. Anyone who didn’t take it seriously needed to do so now.
“Panther One, this is Giant Control, come in.” Revente’s voice filled her helmet.
“Panther One here. What’s going on?”
“I need Panthers One through Four to disengage your current mission and high tail it back toward the Behemoth.”
“With all due respect, sir, why? I don’t want to leave half my wing out here without me.”
“Don’t worry, you’re just carrying out a quick task before returning to the fray. We need as many fighters distracting the enemy as we can.” Revente paused a moment. “I think you’ll like what they have in mind anyway.”
“I’d better because taking off doesn’t feel right.” Meagan switched the channel to the other ships in her wing. “Looks like we’ve got a side game, guys. I need two, three and four to form up on me. The rest of you engage as we discussed. Work with Tiger Wing to really give them hell.”
Meagan pulled up and spun around with the other three ships in tow. She patched back in with Giant Control “Okay, we’re on our way back.
What’s so damn important?”
“There’s a net full of debris near the ship. Roughly a kilometer in radius so plenty of garbage. We’re going to jettison a couple pulse bombs. You’re going to spread out the rubbish and plant the ordinance in the middle.”
Meagan nodded. “I see. So why does it take four of us?”
“The net’s secure with a magnetic clamp with a coded lock. We don’t have time to decrypt it. Two of you will attach tow cables to the net. One will blow the lock. You’ll then open the contents and drag it across the flight path of the enemies. A couple extra shots should get it moving and you can contain it to a tight spread with the net.”
“And the Pulse Bombs?”
“Panther Four will drop them amongst the trash, leaving them to float around. As soon as you’re finished, I want you to get the hell out of the way. Back toward the Behemoth. I’m warning all wings about what we’re planning because when the enemy ships reach a threshold, they have to disengage and take the long way around to get back us.”
“Okay, we’re on it.” Meagan briefed her wing on their objective and how they’d take care of it. Mick, Panther Two, spoke up.
“That clamp they’re talking about is pretty small and if we blast it, that might cause the whole net to fly off. It’s going to be pretty damn heavy.”
“Good,” Meagan replied. “We’ll get into position so when the clamp goes, we’ll use the momentum from the shot to drag the contents to where we need them. Panther Four, keep those pulse bombs as far away from shooting as you can.”
“I don’t fancy being turned into molten slag,” Shelly, Panther Four, replied. “Don’t worry. I’ll treat them with more respect than the bomber guys do.”
“Hey,” David, Panther Three said, “they drop them on valuable targets. I’d call that pretty respectful.”
Meagan grinned but didn’t fuel their fun. “Let’s focus on the task, people. Panther Two and I will attach our cables. Three, you’re on shooting detail.”
The net loomed ahead, a massive blob of junk both natural and manmade. Without environmental shields, such debris could obliterate a ship, tearing through the hull and causing no end of damage. Cleanup crews from Earth cataloged sites with excessive rock or garbage left from mining operations and sent people to take care of them.
