Right Ascension

by David Derrico

  “Wow,” murmured Chad softly, unable to find words properly befitting the humbling experience. A sudden lightheadedness finally reminded him to inhale.

  The Captain, seated next to the pilot in the front of the shuttle, turned back to the cadets and said, “Wow? When I first saw her this close, the only thing I could think to say was holy shit.” The cadets all grinned at the Captain’s remark, and all silently agreed that his expression was far more apt than their own.

  Entering the massive landing bay, the shuttle slowed and finally halted on the docking platform. Almost unable to move, Chad rose from his seat and anxiously looked toward the opening hatchway. As the cadets silently filed off the shuttle and onto the ship, each wore the uniform expression of awe spawned by actually being aboard the legendary Juggernaut. Chad stepped with trepidation down the short exit stairway, feeling an intense surge of adrenaline as his boot made contact with the polished metal deck, knowing his life was forever changed.

  “You all must be overwhelmed,” said the Captain, eyeing the cadets with a knowing smirk. “To be perfectly honest, I still get a chill when I set foot on her.” The shuttle pilot next to him nodded his agreement. “But there will be plenty of time for awe. Now, you are all to follow me to the orientation room.”

  Following the Captain into one of the broad hallways of the ship, Chad looked back at the hangar bay portal and at Earth, no longer nearly so magnificent nor awe-inspiring as the ship he would be stationed on for the next six years.

  • • •

  “Can you believe it, Krystal?” asked Chad once the orientations had ended and they had been taken to their barracks. “Can you believe this thing?”

  “No,” she said pointedly. “It’s like a dream.”

  “The Indomitable. Think of it! I mean, I’ve read all about it since I was a kid, but—”

  “To actually be aboard it is another thing entirely,” Krystal finished for him.

  “Man! Do you know this ship can hold half a billion people? That it’s almost half the mass of the moon? That it …”

  “Knowing all that and seeing it are entirely different things, aren’t they?”

  “Wow. I mean, holy shit was right.”

  Smiling, Krystal embraced him. He held her, and thought of how everything had come together almost perfectly for him. Here he was, graduated at the top of his class from flight school, on board the Indomitable, and with Krystal. Though she didn’t know it, the last thing was what made him most happy. At least he didn’t think she really knew. If she did, it never got in the way of their friendship, which started almost as soon as they joined the Academy together, six years ago.

  “Do you think we’ll ever know our way around this place?” Krystal asked as Chad reluctantly released her and watched her survey their new home. “I hear even Fleet Admiral Cole doesn’t know where everything is.”

  “How could he?” asked Chad incredulously. “That would be like knowing every street, house, and building in North America. How many square kilometers of space are there aboard this ship?”

  “Who knows?” replied Krystal with an absent shrug. “Isn’t that a trivia question or something?”

  “I wonder if anyone really knows,” said Chad, beginning to call up the ship’s schematics on his nanocomputer.

  “What I do know,” replied Krystal, turning to him seriously, “is that every square centimeter on this ship is the safest place in the galaxy to be.”

  Chad nodded and looked up at her. “Yeah … they say the armour is impenetrable.”

  “Or as close as it can theoretically be, anyway. Quantum mechanics was never my thing, though.”

  Krystal was referring to the super-dense construction of the atomic armour plating that protected the ship, Chad knew. Though he admitted he was not an expert on such things either, he did know that the basic principle was that subatomic particles were somehow packed together so densely that they were all but impenetrable. Add to that the Indomitable's impregnable shields, which were more powerful than those of any planet, and he could see no way how anything could be more than a nuisance to the mighty Juggernaut-class starship. In fact, after the Indomitable’s construction, symbolically finished on January 1, 3000, no other species had even attempted to make anything rivaling the monstrous ship. After all, what was the point? Chad doubted that anything larger than it could ever be made, and if any hostile species tried, there would be no way to hide it and no way to stop the Juggernaut from obliterating it before it came anywhere near completion. None of the neighboring species, however, even felt a need for so powerful a weapon for their navies, as the commission of the Indomitable marked the beginning of a peaceful era. The ultimate Doomsday Weapon, the Indomitable solidified the peaceful, democratic authority of the United Confederation of Planets and aligned nearly all the worlds in the Alpha Sector. Though it was used only as a symbolic show of force in most of the ensuing minor skirmishes, its effectiveness, once proven beyond any reasonable doubt, deterred any serious invasion. Any hostile species that were out there were staying the hell out there.

  Of course, what made the Indomitable so frightful a specter was not her armour, nor her shields, nor even her powerful energy weapons. What made the Indomitable legendary was the Omega Cannon.

  “Chad?”

  Chad blinked twice and looked over at Krystal, flashing her a feeble grin. “I wonder, Krystal …” he began.

  “Wonder what?” she asked, walking over to him and sitting with him on one of the bunk beds arranged in neat rows throughout the large room. “What is it?”

  “It’s just that … I don’t know. Doesn’t it kind of bother you in a way?”

  “It?” she asked, momentarily confused. “You mean the Omega Cannon.” It was not a question.

  “Yeah,” he admitted, looking up into her face, a face that once again reminded him not of a rookie cadet, but of a seasoned veteran with decades of experience behind its beautiful facade. “I mean, it has kept the peace for over 30 years.”

  Krystal took his hand in hers. “I had to come to terms with that dilemma before I could ever set foot aboard this ship, Chad. And I think you need to come to terms with it as well.”

  Chad sighed heavily.

  “And I think you need to arrive at your conclusion on your own,” she finished. Kissing him on the forehead, she rose to leave. “But right now, let’s get some sleep. We’ll probably have a big day tomorrow.”

  Forcing a smile, Chad nodded and watched her walk out of the room. But he knew sleep would be the last thing on his mind.

  • • •

  The barracks were quiet—eerily quiet, Chad noted uncomfortably. And when it was quiet at night, Chad had time to think. And on this night in particular, he had a lot on his mind. Predictably, his thoughts turned to the Omega Cannon.

  The size of a small moon all by itself, but encased in the oblong nose of the Indomitable, the Omega Cannon was the final word in naval power. Larger and infinitely more powerful than any conceivable conventional, nuclear, or energy weapon, the Cannon was what scared aggressive species from coming anywhere near the Confederation. Though there were powerful hostile armadas out there, they were all rendered meaningless by the Cannon.

  Of course, the details were not revealed to anyone but the most trusted, high-ranking members of the Confederation Navy, but how exactly the weapon did what it did was irrelevant. What mattered was what it did to the attacking armies of the Korg Empire on June 6, 3007.

  Though it happened many years before his birth in 3019, Chad and every other sentient being in the sector knew very well about the events that took place at the Korgia Prime System that day. It was after the Korgians had attacked and inflicted heavy casualties on a few outlying Confederation outposts, and appeared to be readying for a more serious assault on the Core Systems. Dispatched from Earth, the Indomitable arrived unescorted at Korgia Prime, where the entire Korgian Armada had massed for their upcoming assault. As the Korgian ships started swinging into position an
d firing harmless energy beams at the Indomitable, she powered up the Omega Cannon.

  Though the entire incident was classified, and certainly none of the Korgians lived to tell about it, what happened next was legendary. While accounts of exactly what happened vary, and thus the details are not commonly agreed upon, what Chad and everyone else did know was that the immense Omega Cannon fired, and, as the Indomitable spun away and departed through hyperspace, the entire Korgian Star System, including its twelve planets, nine billion people, and hundreds of warships, was completely obliterated. Not surprisingly, to this day, no one has since dared launch a major offensive on any Confederation planet.

  It was not always so safe and peaceful, Chad noted. Back in his grandfather’s time, during the days when Fleet Admiral Cole became a living legend, there were constant wars and threats of extermination from evil alien species. Even his distinguished father’s period had seen its share of war. Many, like his grandfather, had died defending Earth and other Confederation worlds from invaders.

  But those days are far behind us now, thanks to the Cannon, Chad thought quickly. After all, the Omega Cannon had, almost single-handedly, kept the peace for over thirty years. Eventually, with that notion to comfort him, Chad was able to fall into a weary sleep.

  • • •

  During the night, his first aboard the Indomitable, Chad was awakened by the familiar ringing of alarm klaxons. It took him a while to realize that he was no longer at flight school, and that this must be the real thing.

  Sensing his thoughts, Krystal arose from her bed and, as she donned her flight gear, calmly said, “Probably just a drill. They probably do this to all incoming pilots on their first night.”

  “Kind of a ‘welcome aboard’ type of thing, perhaps?” Chad agreed as he rubbed his eyes, quickly growing alert. “Well, let’s make it look good.”

  With that, they finished getting ready and stepped into the hall and raced down to the briefing room. It was chaos as they entered and found a chair.

  “Take a seat!” barked the normally relaxed Captain, heavy furrows evident on his brow. “This is not a drill.”

  Krystal and Chad looked at each other in surprise as they sat in one of the many rows of chairs in the back of the room. Not a drill? What could be so threatening as to warrant all this activity? A rogue pirate in a 200-series fighter, perhaps? Chad stifled a chuckle.

  “Pilots,” began the Captain, “an unidentified bogey has just arrived in the Sol System. We are maneuvering to intercept.” He fingered a button on a remote, calling up a three-dimensional representation from the holo-vid projector showing the nose of the Indomitable and a tiny silver speck floating before it.

  A pilot near the front raised a hand. “Didn’t we track them on long-range radar?”

  “No,” replied the Captain. “That’s what has us so intrigued. We had no contact from any sensor or radar scans until three minutes ago when it arrived. The ship is small, not quite Capital-class, but sensor scans are unable to penetrate its shielding. We’ve never seen anything like it before. We are assuming they are a new species.”

  “Wow,” whispered Krystal enthusiastically. “How exciting!” Though far from common, encountering a new species was not extraordinary considering that the vast stretches of space spawned scores of sentient creatures. Chad had certainly never been present for a First Contact, however.

  “They’re probably friendly,” the Captain continued, “but of course, we are not to let our guards down. We are to be on full combat status. Alpha through Delta Wings will launch immediately and take up escort positions. You are to remain Weapons Hot but are not to fire under any circumstances until ordered otherwise, is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir!” was the unanimous reply from the assembled pilots. With a nod from the Captain, they began moving quickly to their ships. Chad rushed to keep up with Krystal as they raced from the briefing room into the corridor.

  “It should be fun taking out the new SF-357’s,” he remarked as they hurried down the corridor, pulsating lights overhead directing them to the fighter bays. “They didn’t have any ships this advanced at the academy.”

  “Stay focused,” Krystal warned uncharacteristically. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay? The Indomitable may be invincible, but we’re not.”

  “But it’s a First Contact! You really think they sent one sub-Capital ship to start a ruckus with the Indomitable? Don’t be—”

  “Just be careful, okay, Chad? I have a funny feeling about this.”

  Chad had learned to trust Krystal’s intuition. “Krystal,” he asked, slowing slightly. “At the Academy—our final exam. If those had been real lasers … ?”

  “We’re a team, right?” Krystal nodded to him. “Just stay close to me—and stay alert this time.”

  Chad smiled. “You worry too much,” he teased, grinning. “You’re just scared ‘cause you’re not as good a pilot as me.”

  Krystal couldn’t help but smile, and some of her seriousness faded. “I’ll fly circles around you any day, space slug. Just try to keep up.” With that, she sprinted ahead.

  Chad laughed to himself and the pair raced to their respective fighters.

  • • •

  Launching out of the hangar bay, Chad was once again reminded of just how immense the vessel he was leaving truly was. Pushing those thoughts aside, however, he concentrated on the task at hand, following Beta Leader around on a hard left turn, the stars pinwheeling violently in front of him. Decelerating quickly, he eased into formation, guiding his ship behind and to the right of Krystal, who in turn was on the right wing of Beta Leader. Chad double-checked his readouts, making sure his shields were up and his weapons were fully powered, and glanced to his left at the massive Indomitable, the mighty Juggernaut completely eclipsing his view of Earth.

  “Beta Leader to Beta Wing,” barked Jonathan Cole’s voice through the comm speaker, “hold position and retain attack formation.”

  Chad slowed his ship and stopped, surrounded by the other eleven members of Beta Wing, who were likewise aligned in perfect formation. He stared through the cockpit plasticite at the speck of an alien ship that had caused all this commotion. He could make out few details of the small ship; it appeared to be ovoid in shape, and composed of some reflective, swirling metal. “I guess we just wait while they try to talk to it now, huh?” Chad asked over the comlink.

  “That’s right,” replied Cole stiffly. “Those are the orders. But stay alert.”

  Fine, thought Chad, running his fingers wistfully over the fighter’s controls. I’ll stay alert, all right. But can’t I just go take this baby for a spin for a while?? He looked over into Krystal’s cockpit to find her smiling back at him. He knew she could tell exactly what he was thinking, and, what’s more, that she was thinking exactly the same thing.

  CHAPTER 2

  Admiral Daniel Atgard surveyed the scene before him on the expansive viewscreen. Straight ahead, and clearly visible though many millions of kilometers away, was the Indomitable. His view was of the stately profile of the mammoth ship, of which Earth, hanging behind her against the mottled background of stars, seemed to be no more than a satellite. Surrounding the Juggernaut, he knew from his tactical display, were hundreds of small but potent fighters, one of which was piloted by his son, Chad. The Admiral watched with fervent interest, as not only was he witnessing his son’s first mission, but also the discovery of a new species. Although, to be more accurate, Daniel remarked silently, the other species had technically discovered us.

  The alien vessel, visible exclusively on the tactical screen, was of unknown origin. Strangely, his sensors had been unable to garner any data on the exotic vessel. He hoped the Indomitable's sensors, being at much closer range, were enjoying more success. In addition, he reminded himself, his sensors were set to passive scanning, as they were unable to actively transmit radar signals while cloaked. Though just a precaution, he had elected to keep his ship, the Apocalypse, fully cloaked, which—theoretically�
�rendered it undetectable.

  Daniel turned once again to the tactical display and zoomed in on his son’s SF-357 fighter, which hovered in perfect formation on the near side of the Indomitable's right flank. Daniel longed to hail his son over the comlink, but knew he was unable to transmit while cloaked, a precaution that may have seemed paranoid and unnecessary to some. However, though the alien ship seemed benign, Admiral Atgard had not survived to rise to his current rank by underestimating unknown adversaries.

  Admiral Atgard had, at age 35, become the youngest man to ever hold that rank when he was awarded it in 3011. Still one of the younger men to currently hold the title, Daniel Atgard earned the respect and notice of the Confederation Navy at an early age. Originally a fighter pilot, Daniel proved his courage defending Earth from invaders before the days of the Indomitable. After his bravery and skill had caught the eye of Admiral Cole, he was commissioned to a covert branch of the military and given command of a swift Corvette. He was sent on many dangerous and clandestine missions, ranging from exploration to espionage, all of which were of critical importance to the Confederation. Repeatedly establishing his mettle as a pilot, a captain, and a tactician, Atgard was made an Admiral after his pivotal role in the discovery of the aggregation of the Korgian Armada.

  A man of wisdom, valor, and, above all, integrity, Daniel Atgard was ferociously respected by his friends and crewmates alike. Daniel’s reputation as one of the most fiercely innovative and cunning men in the sector was well known, and he had pulled his ship and crew through insurmountable odds on regular occasion. A heroic, noble warrior-philosopher, Daniel often found himself outgunned or outnumbered, but never outwitted. Resolute and indefatigable, his august visage was born of years of hard-earned experience and invaluable knowledge. Slender wisps of stately gray hair mingled with his ebony locks, but the intensity with which he bore himself suggested a man half his age. Perceptive and inquisitive, the Admiral firmly believed that if he outthought his enemy, the battle was already won.