by Damon Alan
“This is getting easier, not harder,” the adept replied, managing to sound indignant that he’d question her ability.
“I’ll tell you when, here is the arrival point,” the young navigator tactfully responded.
“Captain, they’ve stopped firing. Our transfer point is two thousand klicks from the enemy ship. Half a minute for their munitions to exit the transfer location, we transfer, a few seconds for missile lock on the cruiser and the grappler, then about ninety seconds for the warheads to reach the target at 50G acceleration.”
“You did all that in your head?” Admiral Dayson asked Algiss.
“Of course,” the young man responded.
“We have a mission,” Harmeen said. “Transfer when you’re confident with your numbers, Mister Algiss.”
“Transferring now.”
Mindari, still dark and dead, moved position slightly on the screen.
“ECM and ECCM to max, radars locking missiles now,” Heinrich reported.
“Fire,” Harmeen ordered.
Missiles ripped from the pods at the ends of the Sheffaris’ grappler pylons, then raced to different targets. As expensive as the missiles were to make, not using them effectively was a worse option. Three headed toward the cruiser, and two toward the grappler.
“Tracking,” Algiss said. “All three missiles are tracking the cruiser and in evasive. The two on the grappler are heading straight in. No malfunctions.”
“The enemy is calling for assistance,” Heinrich reported. “They just now figured out this isn’t really a two cruisers on one destroyer engagement.”
Harmeen smiled. Not bad for his first close combat.
“The missiles on the grappler are detonating now,” Algiss reported. “Thirty seconds for the cruiser volley.” He put the cruiser on the screen once again. “They’re firing their self defense railguns… and their ship to ship railguns.”
“Expected,” Harmeen said. “Move us to our next position, Mister Algiss.”
A few seconds passed as the navigator coordinated with Emille, then the planet shifted once again.
“Impact,” he reported, “in ten seconds.”
Cameras locked on the cruiser again, and zoomed in. Three white streaks raced inward, and orange tracers in numbers too great to easily count lanced outward.
A tremendous explosion detonated at the tip of one of the white threads.
“One down,” Algiss said. “Two down… impact.”
Another of the missiles detonated away from the target as the containment for antimatter was broken, but the last missile found its way to target. That missile passed through the defensive fire, hitting the cruiser in the aft section. A fuel tank for the cruiser’s station keeping thrusters detonated as the antimatter missile exploded, creating a shockwave that sent a nearby deuterium fuel tank supercritical. As the missile exploded and the fuel tank burst into fusion, the cruiser ripped apart. Back to front, tumbling forward as the camera panned to keep up with the debris.
“Open a channel to the other cruiser,” Harmeen said.
Heinrich looked at him funny, but did as told. “Channel open.”
“Komi cruiser, this is the Sheffaris. You are ordered to withdraw and you will be allowed to do so. If you remain in your position, you will be destroyed,” Harmeen said.
“No offense, Captain,” Heinrich said. “But why in the galaxy would you let that ship go?”
“We might need it later,” he replied. “If we blow it up, we can’t use it.”
The Admiral laughed behind him. “Sound thinking, Mister Harmeen.”
“I think you have your answer, sir,” Algiss reported.
Four FTL missiles spun up bubbles after being fired from the cruiser, and disappeared into high space.
“Transfer us,” Harmeen said. “And fast.”
“Transferring,” Algiss said a few seconds later. As the FTL missiles reentered realspace, the Sheffaris blinked away to a more distant spot.
“Those are going to hunt for a target,” Heinrich said. “It might well be the cruiser that fired them.”
“I tried,” Harmeen said, shrugging his shoulders. “Mister Algiss, we’re going to try the same tactic, but with a different flair, if Emille’s up to it. She’s transferred us a few more than I anticipated.”
“Would you ask her sir? She’s crabby.”
Harmeen laughed, but did what Algiss asked. “Emille, can you do two more?”
“Why do you keep asking? I’ll tell you if I’m nearing my limit.”
She was crabby. Wonder why? The FTL missiles? Bubbles that small don’t generate much of a wave, that probably wasn’t it.
“Okay, just let me know,” he quickly replied, then cut the link.
“Mister Algiss, we can go when you’re ready, I want to jump to the far side of the cruiser and kill it, then we can finish off the grappler at our leisure. There’s no fire pattern to avoid on the other side, so let’s go ASAP.”
“Transferring,” Algiss said.
The cruiser appeared a thousand kilometers off their bow.
“Lock and fire six,” Harmeen ordered. “We might have been lucky last time when one got through.”
“Locked,” Heinrich reported.
“Firing,” Algiss said.
Six gossamer threaded flares launched forward and spread out. They were invisible in the distance in just a few seconds.
“The cruiser is firing,” Algiss reported. “We need to move now.”
“To the grappler,” Harmeen ordered. “Fire on it when we have lock.”
“Transferring,” Algiss reported. The screen shifted. “Locked and firing.”
He looked on with smug satisfaction as missiles once again lanced out from the Sheffaris. Admiral Dayson had trusted him to command her vessel. She’d tasked him to do what all the other commanders were opposed to doing.
And he’d done it. “When Emille is ready, transfer—”
His command was cut short.
The next few seconds were filled with confusion. A tremendous sound filled the bridge, followed by a sound that terrified every spacer. The wail of escaping air. Behind him, through a fog of sound and disorder, Admiral Dayson began barking orders.
He noticed the main view screen, the second enemy cruiser was an expanding cloud of vapor and debris.
His vision began to blur, and a moment later he was enveloped in darkness. Halani Seto, the most remarkable person he’d ever known, appeared in the unexplained blackness, beckoning to him.
Her presence filled him with love, she was gentle and all that was good.
Where are we going? he said as he approached her. She reached out to her hand toward him and he extended his own hand in return.
Eternity, she answered as his hand locked with hers.
Chapter 55 - Report
Rather than stop at a nearer facility, Bn74x00 jumped to Albeus directly due to the long range of the improved singularity drive it carried. On the trip it surveyed the damage caused by the alien behemoth it had encountered.
The dreadnought was wrecked, and probably only components could be salvaged.
No matter.
00 had engaged the enemy, killed two of the smaller ones, and now damaged a larger ship. The Original would recognize that of all the colonies in the Collective, only 00 had succeeded in killing the enemy. It would be fitted with another hull, and hopefully another FTL drive like the one it carried now.
Because it was certain that an ordinary drive didn’t have the ability to kill the enemy. Whatever shearing force the edge of the FTL bubble produced, the ordinary drive wasn’t powerful enough to tear through something that dense.
Not only was the advanced drive powerful enough to shear the hull material, but simply being inside the bubble seemed to destroy the aliens in some fashion, which was what had saved 00 when the two small ships had attacked. The mechanism of that destruction was unknown, 00 and Yz were unable to get into the ships to determine the nature of the crews, although 00 was beginning to suspec
t something that first seemed remarkably unlikely. Now, however, that possibility was growing in likelihood as 00 calculated the options for the alien intelligences.
The ships themselves were the aliens. It was starting to believe that the aliens were space based life forms, either naturally or artificially evolved to not only live in space, but to thrive there.
For now it would keep that evaluation to itself. It calculated that The Original may determine it to be damaged or defective if it shared the data due to the unlikely nature of it.
Finally, after an undetermined time because both its internal clock and the dreadnought frame chronometer were non-functional, 00 dropped back into realspace. None of the material from the larger ship remained. The two small hulls were lost to the enemy when Yz died. The only evidence 00 had to verify its observations was recorded sensor data.
It would have to do.
The dreadnought, still venting various component volatiles into space, approached Albeus III. Traffic Control granted an orbital slot, and 00 slid into it the best it could. It was number nine hundred and seventy-two in the sequence to see The Original. Rarely did a colony move ahead in the queue, and this time was no exception although 00’s evidence was urgent. Unfortunately, that evidence was also outrageously difficult to accept as uncorrupted due to the extensive damage 00 had suffered, so the attendant colonies refused to give it early access.
The Original was attended by other human based colonies. To 00 this was more proof the Collective was broken, corrupted in favor of the human based nanites, and needed to be adjusted. As a crucible docked with the dreadnought to accept and store 00 for the wait, it realized it was feeling emotions.
Anger.
Frustration.
Contempt.
And hate.
It hated the creature that destroyed Yz. It held contempt for the human based nanites, inefficient due to their limitations and their biases. It was frustrated that it needed to wait to implement its plans, and that it was dependent on the whim of The Original.
But, it calculated, in the end none of that would matter. It would defeat the aliens with the knowledge it carried. It would overthrow the hierarchy of the Collective, and space based nanite colonies would become dominant. And it would create the future by giving existence to more colonies like Yz.
Yz.
It would be avenged.
<<<< TO BE CONTINUED>>>>
Important Concepts:
Calendar:
I assume that if galactic civilization arises, a simple calendar with which to plan things across solar systems will arise. Most worlds won’t have a 365 day year. Or even a 24 hour day. So I came up with a calendar for my galactic civilization. Year 1 of the galactic calendar is based on the first year man colonized an extra-solar planet.
10 months, 40 days each. Each month is 4 weeks, weeks are 10 days.
Month Days
Jand 1-40
Febbed 41-80
Mapri 81-120
Mai 121-160
Huni 161-200
Juni 201-240
Gusta 241-280
Seppet 281-320
Ors 321-360
Noder 361-400
Glossary:
ECM/ECCM: Electronic Counter Measures are EM (electromagnetic) signals designed to frustrate sensory equipment from detecting the location of a target. ECCM are EM signals designed to overcome attempts at ECM.
ELINT: Electronic Intelligence.
EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse. By-product of a nuclear detonation, EMPs tend to overwhelm and destroy electronic circuitry. They are unpredictable and vary greatly in strength.
FTL: Faster than light
FTL drive, singularity, drive core, jump drive: All slang for the drive system that contains the singularity that makes FTL travel possible.
FTL Nuke: A nuclear weapon delivered by a missile equipped with a FTL drive.
G: One standard Earth gravity, or 9.80665 m/s2.
G-K: Grappler Killer. See next entry.
Grappler: A small vessel designed to carry a minimal crew and weapons to a target. They never carry FTL drives. Serving on a grappler means travel inside a spacesuit for potentially weeks.
Grappler Engine: A tracked device capable of gripping the very fabric of space in order to accelerate or decelerate a small spacecraft. Only useful on small spacecraft, as large inertia overcomes the gripping ability of the engine. The track grips the quantum foam that is present in all space, vacuum or not.
Grav Couch: A device designed to manipulate the human body so that it can most efficiently absorb G forces. The couch rotates on at least two planes, and in some specialized ships three. Grav couches are also called acceleration couches. They are usually outfitted with the means to deliver nutrients, hydration, and medicine to the occupant if necessary.
Hive: A collection of nanite neural nets inhabiting both human bodies and mechanical constructs. Originally created by humans, the nanites that are the Hive turned on humanity almost immediately. Today they occupy a few thousand star systems of what was once human space. They infect humans, replacing the human nervous system with a mechanical/organic replacement.
Inclusion Sphere: a bubble (slang for inclusion sphere) several kilometers in diameter created by a rapidly rotation singularity and lensed gravity waves. Due to depression of space at the leading edge of the bubble and raising of space at the trailing edge, the entire bubble and all contents move forward in three dimensional space faster than light. Everything in the bubble is stationary relative to the space fabric they are embedded in.
Nanobot/Nanites: Microscopic (or at least very small) machines that are designed to accomplish tasks.
Probes, Hounds: Sensor and long range comm probes that can travel to their assigned station with a smaller FTL drive system. This small system damages neural networks within their inclusion sphere, therefore cannot be used on small vessels that contain Human or Hive neural networks.
Quantum Entangler: A radio designed to deliver instantaneous FTL communications by utilizing entangled atoms to deliver digital signals.
Quantum Foam: Particles that are created and destroyed virtually instantaneously in all three dimensional space.
Torch: v. To ignite the fusion engines for acceleration or braking. n. A fusion engine.
Transfer/Jump: Transfer refers to the adept ability to move a starship (or other object) from one location in the universe to another. Jump refers to this, or to activating the singularity drive used by most of humanity and the Hive.
* * *
Author Notes: If you read the dedications, they may seem a bit squishy. Emotional. Sappy. I don’t know what word you might use. But I am the sort of guy that likes to be appreciated, so those words from readers in review mean a lot to me. I celebrate each review left by mentioning it on Facebook. Not because I am vain in the sense of “look what I have done” but because I am the opposite. I’m at times unsure if the story I’m telling is entertaining like I think it is. You who review, or you who send me emails, or talk to me in person, you are the reason this series is still going. And you’ll be the reason for the one after.
What’s next? Probably two more books in the Dark Seas series, but maybe three. Then after that I’ll be telling the story of Peter Corriea and Eris Dantora during the time of the AI Wars, when they build Gaia. I also have plans for a fantasy series, but haven’t fleshed out that storyline yet.
So if you like the stories, and I like the writing, I feel like that is a recipe for collaboration, and hope you agree. I write, you read, you share with me your ideas, I take the ones that fit the overall story and together we make it better.
For as long as I can I will answer emails personally. Meaning that if I’m fortunate enough someday to have more than I can answer in a reasonable time, I’ll let you know. Until that day, consider it an open invitation to email me at [email protected] and tell me what you think. I listen.
Want to follow me on Twitter? @DamonAlan (profanity warning)
Want to friend or follow me on Facebook? Damon Alan
Want to follow my author page? https://www.facebook.com/DarkSeaBooks
Want my phone number? Oops! My wife says no. ;)
I hope you like(d) Komi Syndicate. Poor Sarah, why can’t people just cooperate with their salvation?
I’ll talk to you soon,
Damon Alan
