“Well, we don't want that to happen, do we, professor?
All right, 12 light-years for the first jump it is then.
The distance of the second jump will have to be up to your tactical assessment at the time. Maybe, splitting it in two if needed.”
Mertoff leaned forward preparing to speak again. Tompkins looked daggers at him, then went on.
“We all agree that the Crillon ships must be in orbit around planet DPav4.
You should emerge from behind planet DPav5, which is outside the habitable zone and further away from the star.
This is where the new Skippa sub-light drive will come in handy.
Now. Hopefully, this will please director Mertoff. His department came up with a modification to stealth drone SD 23. Mertoff, you can go ahead now and speak on this.”
“Yes, thank you,” Mertoff said, grinning like a child given a sweet.
“We all know that the trial controllers wanted to be able to use the drones hovering close to, but preferably on, a planet's surface.
We also know that this wasn’t possible. As the Drones couldn’t hover, so wouldn’t be able to land without using their lift-jets, which would then nullify their stealth capability,” he finished, looking serious now.
“The solution was evident when you think about it,” he said, grinning again.
“Fit retractable legs. Then set the front section’s force field strength to the maximum repel level. The drone then drifts down and lands gently on its legs, which are still ‘stealthy’ by the way. Perfect, don't you think?”
“Yes. Thank you Mertoff. I’ll continue now,” Tomkins replied.
“Now, what do we hope to achieve with this drone?” He asked, and, not waiting for an answer continued.
“Perhaps we should use it initially to assist all the ships in monitoring DPav4’s communication’s traffic. And, now that it can land, use it to help find someone on the planet to work with.
By monitoring their communications, you should also be able to sort their language out before any contact is made.”
Frank was impressed, and like the rest of the StarShip captains thought a lot of work had gone into the presentation.
“Once you've made contact,” Tompkins continued. “You'll have an audio and video connection to help you keep in contact with them,” he paused.
“Then, whatever we think you should do from there on, won’t matter. It must be your call.
But remember. There are at least six Crillon ships, so make sure you have the advantage,” he warned.
“I think Captain Richardson and his crew have been through more than enough to know what I’m talking about. The Illustrious and Derringer have also had a sample.”
He looked at everybody around the table, and they all nodded agreement.
“We've done everything we can, gentlemen. The rest is up to you.”
Tompkins then said. “Captain Richardson will be the OIC, or, Commodore, to those ship crews who have been given Navy rankings. So, he’ll, have total control over operations.
The Andromeda and its crew are more scientifically orientated and seem to be able to do things the rest of you can’t.
Why? Well, it may be down to their full use of transceiver implants, or perhaps not.
But maybe you should all consider this option again. It's not invasive. You can always use thought-commands to ‘turn it off’ when you want privacy.
Plus, your ship's computer would only override your thought-commands in an emergency,” he stopped again, smiled and then continued.
“Your departure orders and codes are being sent to your ships now. Good luck from us all,” he said. Then the images of the Federation's High Command participants vanished from Frank’s screen.
“Well, chaps. No chance for any questions it seems. Let’s reconvene for an Inter-ship conference in one hour.
That should give us enough time to digest our orders.”
Frank’s screen went blank, then changed. Showing a view of Mars.
“Andromeda, end ship’s broadcast now,” Frank ordered.
An hour later, after Frank and Andromeda had reviewed the new mission orders, the Inter-ship conference began.
The screen changed again, now showing only the four ship’s captains images.
“Welcome back gentlemen. We all know this is a dangerous mission. So, I’d like to start by asking you to use first names during any actual battle on this mission. I know the new ships crew have all been given Navy rankings. But, we’ve found in real battle situations, that there's no time to worry about formality.”
“Absolutely, Commodore,” they all replied.
Frank winced at the use of his temporary title.
“Right, everyone. You all know that I’m the OIC of this mission. Therefore, you will all use my Captain’s title from now on. Clear?”
“As you wish Frank,” Derrick Patterson agreed on behalf of the rest.
“Good. Do we all agree that we should make the twelve light-years jump first?”
They all nodded in agreement, then Tony spoke.
“Yes. But we think it should be a two-part jump for the rest. Perhaps a six light-year, leaving a short one-point-nine light-year hop for last.
Making the short hop last, means we’ll be closer to the planet before we jump. So, we should have more information on it and will then be able to exit-jump close to DPav5.
Plus, we’ll exit-jump in stealth mode, using the sub-light Skippa drive and the Crillons shouldn't see us coming.”
“It makes sense. I think we all agree. Yes?” Frank asked, and they all nodded agreement again.
“We’ve been instructed to use the Skippa sub-light drive to go to the starting point, to familiarise ourselves with it. Is that okay?” He asked, and they all nodded.
“Right. Tomorrow at eleven hundred hours, all ships will line up six thousand kilometres from Mars, and five hundred apart.
We’ll make the first jump at fourteen hundred hours.
Transit time should be about two and a half days.”
“Can we assume that our ships will be able to communicate with each other when we’re all travelling in our wormholes?” Barry asked.”
“I don’t think so Barry,” Andromeda answered. “Perhaps someday, we’ll be able to generate a wormhole that is large enough for all of the ships to pass through together. At present, the power needed is greater than we can generate.”
“Or maybe, we could find a way to make a longer, but smaller diameter wormhole. Then the ships could follow each other in-line,” added Barry.
“OK! Enough of this supposing, Barry,” Frank snapped.
“Right, we all know that the jump-coordinate calculation is a nightmare. Luckily, in multi-jumping the computation is easier and takes almost the same time as a warp core takes to recharge,” Frank said, then paused for a moment, thinking.
“We somehow need to speed up the calculations to determine how long the light from a star has taken to reach your ship,” Andromeda added.
”Then predict exactly where the star will be when you exit the wormhole.
Naturally, the closer we get to the star, the more accurate the exit point will be,” she said and paused.
‘It’s starting to sound like a lecture, Andromeda,’ Frank thought.
Andromeda ignored this and carried on.
“Sorry to lecture you. But like most things in life, the variables become less important the more times your ship makes a jump, with more information having been gathered on the stars predicted movements with each jump.
Therefore, the calculations become faster and more accurate as time goes by.”
Andromeda having paused then added. “So, as I have more experience than any other ship, that means I will be the sync source.”
“Naturally, that goes without saying Andromeda,” Frank remarked.
Tony then asked. “If we're each going to be five hundred kilometres apart, can we assume that Andromeda’s syncing will be accurate
enough?”
Tony jerked his head as Andromeda gave him a disproving pulse in his transceiver implant. “Ouch.”
“Yes. After the first jump, we're bound to be a bit off, with such a long jump. Then, when we get back into formation, we'll check our strategy.”
“Sounds good,” Tony agreed as he rubbed his forehead.
“OK. We've got our orders and the departure and code clearance. So, see you all at the jump point, eleven o'clock.”
Frank wished he could see Susanna. He missed her. But they had both agreed it wouldn’t look right, with them always seeming to be together.
Later, however, they both changed their minds, deciding instead to have a quiet evening meal together, in her cabin.
They only had a couple of hours, and after eating, cuddled up on her sofa. Supposedly making plans for their wedding, but finding it impossible to keep their hands off each other.
Then, the inevitable happened, and very enjoyable they found it. Finally, after using the ISO shower together, they reluctantly dressed then kissed each other again, and he left.
With other things starting to fill his mind, as she closed the door behind him.
Chapter 11
Fighting Men.
Frank knew virtually all the crew on the Andromeda, from their first mission, so there had been no need for an introductory meeting at the start of the voyage.
However, he had only gone a few paces from Susanna’s cabin when he realised he’d neglected to meet their complement of Marines so far, this trip.
Marines were known for their loyalty to leaders that they knew they could put their trust in and were second to none in hand-to-hand combat.
If there were Crillons on Delta Pavonis, Frank knew that there would almost certainly be a fierce close-quarters battle. Therefore, it was vital, not only to meet the Marines but also to ‘gel’ with them.
‘Damn,’ Frank thought. ‘Better go there now,’ and headed off.
The Marines’ quarters were still situated next to the bulkhead that separated the massive warp-drive section from the habitation area.
But their quarters had been greatly enlarged by taking over an adjoining area.
A new food-synthesizer vending machine had also been installed, allowing for the extra Marines; as with all of Frank’s StarShips, there were now six per ship.
Frank tapped the annunciator panel as he arrived at the door to the Marines’ quarters.
“Captain Richardson, OIC here,” he informed.
A young-looking marine wearing a dark blue tracksuit opened the door.
“Captain. Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes. May I come in?”
“Err, yes, of course, sir. I’m Sergeant Dean,” he replied and stood aside to let Frank enter then followed him in.
Inside, he saw another Marine, who was wearing partial body armour. The word ‘Bradley’ was printed on his chest-plate.
Nearby, Frank noticed a rack on the wall that was fully-loaded with the Marines’ hand weapons.
Another Marine came across to meet him, he was also dressed in a tracksuit with the word Captain inscribed across the front of it.
“Captain Stewart, sir. It’s good to see you again, Captain.”
“You too Captain,” he replied. “I understand that you have some new Marines this time.”
“Yes, sir. Actually, three of us were on the last trip.”
“So, who are the three newcomers, and where are they?”
“Hendrix, Moore, and Stacy, sir. They’re out on a walkabout, familiarising themselves with the ship.”
“Good, I believe that one of your marines is female. Yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does that give you a problem?”
“No, my Marines all have separate cabins now, and we respect each other’s privacy anyway.”
“No problems then?”
“No, sir. We’ve been a mixed-gender force for a long time.”
“Good. So how are your new Marines coping with the transceiver implants?”
“They felt disjointed at first, but now they’re ok with them and find them very helpful.”
“Excellent. Oh, and do you need anything else?
“Yes, sir, we do. On our last trip, you arranged for us to have extra beef protein. It isn’t on the menu at the moment, so we’d appreciate that being added again.”
Before Frank could contact her, Andromeda had already acted on the request, and as the food synthesizer bleeped a marine strolled over to check.
“Beef’s back on,” he called.
“OK. Sergeant Dean,” the Captain replied, then turned back to Frank.
“Sir, we appreciate that food is just molecules bonded together. But it’s a bonus if it looks and tastes good and gives us the protein we need to help us keep fit.”
“You’re welcome Captain, as a matter of interest it’s actually quite a feat getting the atoms to bond.”
“I can imagine sir.”
“We had lectures on nuclear engineering sir,” the other marine added.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Yes. The Marines’ educational training includes science and technology classes.
So, as well as comprehensive combat training, they also have a general knowledge of both physics and atomic theory, Captain,” Stewart added.
“I’m sure. Well, I’ll leave you in peace. Though I would have thought that it must be pretty annoying being separated from the rest of the crew most of the time.”
“Not at all. We find it helps to focus the men on their training, and the amount of exercise they have keeps their minds and bodies sharp,” he said, smiling as he replied.
“Well, thanks for visiting, oh, and if you bump into our new Marines, please help them if they seem lost.”
“It’s not likely on this ship.”
“That’s true, as long as they check with Andromeda.”
The Captain walked Frank to the door and stepped out into the corridor with him.
“Thanks again for coming to see us.”
“My pleasure Captain,” Frank answered, feeling well pleased with his Marines.
They both shook hands.
“Thank you, sir. We won’t let you down.”
“Nor would I expect you to.”
With that, Frank continued down the corridor towards his own cabin.
Then, suddenly stopped, as he had the urge to turn around and go back to Susanna. But thought better of it and continued on.
Chapter 12
Jump Time.
Back in his cabin, feeling strangely refreshed. He looked at the screen's chronometer countdown.
Three minutes to eleven. Time to go.
He tapped the ship's captain’s icon, “We’re on our way, good luck captains. See you in forty hours.” Then laid back in his padded seat and waited.
Andromeda sent the two-minute jump warning to her crew's transceivers, and to the other four ships. It seemed ages before the usual ten-second warning was sent.
Then, with five seconds to go.
‘Frank!’ Andromeda communicated, bursting into his thoughts. ‘We have an urgent message from Professor Tompkin. But no abort instruction.’
“Save it.”
“It’s done.”
Zero. The warp field pulses from all five ships twisted the fabric of space, forcing generation of the wormholes.
Five, large whitish coloured and swirling rings with jet-black centres, appeared.
The wormholes had been formed. All five ships moved forward as one, vanishing into their wormholes.
Within seconds, the wormholes shrank to one metre in diameter, remained for two minutes, and then disappeared. The anchors at this end of the wormholes were no longer needed.
Andromeda7 was hurtling through the wormhole. Nothing could be changed now, until exiting in sixty hours’ time.
Once the feeling of giddiness passed, Frank requested the ship’s status from Andromeda.
“Everything is as it
should be,” Frank.
“Shall I play the urgent message from Professor Tompkin now?”
“Yes,” he replied, and immediately heard Tompkin's voice via his implant.
“Frank. We've only just received this information through the Hyperlink. I’m afraid it’s about the drone you left at Zeta One, in Zeta Reticuli. And, I’m sure that it’s something you won’t want to hear.
Five days ago, the drone registered slight rippling and high flux gravimetric distortions. So, we think it's possible the natural wormhole may be trying to re-establish itself.
Be careful Frank and be aware of the consequences,” Tompkin said. “Oh. And good luck!”
“That's all we need,” Frank groaned. “Worse still, I can't even tell the other ships until we exit jump.”
“Unfortunately, you’re right,” Andromeda replied.
“But, on the other hand, at least our screens will be virtually up, and our weapons and systems will be on auto alert when we do exit jump into Normal-space.”
“Yes, they’re the only good points about it.”
While they were in transit, the work needed to fine tune weapons and systems on all the ships continued.
Frank sighed. He knew it would be a long time before he could spend any social time with Susanna again.
He talked with Mark Trask in weapons and Ned Parker in quantum engineering. Discussing the details of how the modified stealth drone Echo 23 now worked. And, the drones good points. Its limitations and how best to use the stealth on the ground.
The Definitive SpaceFed Trilogy (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy).: A thrilling, action-packed Sci-fi space adventure. (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 8) Page 26
