"He was on the bird that found it, Captain. He believes it's important enough to lose the time."
Wellard glanced over at McRee. "Patch his fighter into the comm. I want to talk to him myself." After a moment McRee nodded. "Richards, I hear you found an active anomaly, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. The device is still emitting a weak, but active signature for now. If we bring it back, I might be able to crack their signal."
"I understand your reasoning, Lieutenant, but I need to know if we should prioritize bringing it back instead of searching for the transponders. As I'm sure you're aware, the longer we're out here, the more likely it is that our pilots end up in an accident. Not only that, we aren't sure the enemy is done with the place. As far as we know, they could be sending in a fleet of ships to do the same thing."
"I understand your concerns, Captain, but I assure you this device is worth our time. We could leave it out here with the rest of the wreckage, but there's a chance we'd never find it again. We found the thing by pure luck as it is."
"Fine, you and Bobcat are to hook up to the device and bring it back into the fighter bay. Once you get the damned thing unhooked, you are to get back out there as soon as possible."
Bremerton stepped up and stared at the screen. "That might be better than the boxes."
Wellard shot him a skeptical glance.
"Hear me out," Bremerton said. "We've been fighting a battle of attrition for months. So far, the only way we have to detect an anomaly is a visual check, and we know how effective that is."
Wellard nodded. "About as effective as our pilots out in the debris."
"Exactly. What if we could determine the frequency the device is operating at? We might be able to detect a compromised ship before they could attack. It wouldn't help the gate ambushes any, but in open space..."
"I don't doubt your reasons, Commander. I wonder if we're opening Pandora's box by bringing the device onboard. As far as we know, it could disrupt our communications the second it's in the hold."
"If it does, we lose communications long enough for a lift operator to push it back out."
Wellard motioned to the screen, to a view of Bobcat's fighter as she hauled the device back to the ship. "Guess we find out in a few more minutes."
Chapter Eighteen
Gibraltar Sector
Flight Deck, NECS Endeavor
"Get back," Tegan said as she stepped out of her fighter. Once on the floor, she waved the other pilots away from the anomaly. Richards was close behind, trying not to laugh at the spectacle Bobcat was creating in the bay.
Bremerton found the whole situation amusing. To watch the lieutenant shoo the other pilots away like they were a bunch of hungry dogs was the funniest thing he'd seen in months. To say she looked ridiculous would be understating it.
The device she was trying to protect looked like one of the larger armor plates from a ship. Nothing seemed different about it when he mentally put the object up next to a similar sheet from the Endeavor.
"So this is it?" Bremerton asked as Richards made his way through the commotion. As the engineer removed his visor, Bremerton noticed his face was pale as a ghost. Something out there had spooked the man, but he struggled to guess what it was. Bobcat was one of the best pilots on the ship, and probably the fleet. If she was the one behind the reigns, there shouldn't have been anything to be afraid of.
Richards wiped his mouth with his sleeve and placed the visor on the ground next to the fighter. "I think so. It's hard to tell with the junk floating around out there."
"Think so? The captain said you were certain this was an anomaly."
"It has to be," Bobcat interrupted. "The damned thing was making it hell to communicate with the ship all the way back. There's only one thing I know that can jam communications like that, and it's one of those damned anomalies."
"She's right. I tried doing a few rudimentary scans of the device as she towed it back to the dock. Each scan came back negative as if it was still fully active."
"How the hell can it work without an active power source? I thought these things leeched power from the ship?"
"I believe there may be a secondary source of energy inside the plating. Likely solar powered with extended batteries in case the ship spends days away from the sun. But until I'm able to tear it apart, I'd only be speculating."
Richards' explanation made sense. That would be how it worked until the raiding crews secured a connection to the device, allowing it to block all communications within a few kilometers.
"I have some understanding how it works, but there's still one thing that bothers me. How were you able to determine what this was amongst the rest of the wreckage? By my best guess, the thing looks like one of the larger armor plates. Even if there was an electrical pulse inside, it wouldn't have registered on any of the scanners."
Bobcat glanced over at Richards who gave her a curt nod. She placed her helmet down on the ground next to her fighter and went back into the cockpit to retrieve something from inside. Seconds later she emerged holding a small cylindrical device in her hand. It had a flat metal pin on one side that Bremerton assumed plugged into the cockpit somehow. But otherwise, much like the fragment of the anomaly, he wouldn't have noticed it sitting in the cockpit.
"Richards created a device that detects the jamming signal from the anomaly. I put it on the ship a while ago, but this was the first time we've had a chance to test it."
"The device is a prototype. I wanted to see if it could work before telling the captain. No sense in getting his hopes up or anything. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect it to work so well. Even with a reduced signal, it registered the device from almost a kilometer away. While we have yet to see, I hope that range increases on the active ones."
"Me too," Bremerton agreed. "Until we can determine whether or not a ship is friendly from a distance, there is a risk of us getting hit by a surprise strike."
"As of now the device is only useful at short range, making it pointless to install on the Endeavor, but I hope to change that soon."
"The sooner, the better. We've been lucky so far, but I know it's just a matter of time until that luck runs out. All you have to do is look outside to see what the consequences of that are."
Richards nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get to work on the device. The sooner I can figure this thing out, the sooner we can stop reacting to threats and start being proactive."
"What about her?" Bremerton asked, motioning towards Bobcat. "She needs an experienced engineer to point out anything important in the wreckage."
"Any engineer will work," Bobcat said. "I'll call Vaughn and have him send another one down this way. It will be an hour before my ship is ready to depart again anyways."
"If that's fine with you, it's fine with me. But if Vaughn can't spare anyone else, I expect to see you suited up and ready to fly when the fighter is."
"Of course, Commander."
"Good. Then if that's all, I'll leave you two to your work."
The two of them stood up and snapped to attention, each giving the commander a textbook salute. Bremerton returned the gesture before making his way off the flight deck.
Chapter Nineteen
Gibraltar Sector
Bridge, NECS Endeavor
"So he's sure it's part of an anomaly?" Wellard asked, skeptically. "It didn't look any different from half the wreckage out there."
"Swears it is, Captain. Said he created a device to use on the fighters to help locate them."
"If that's true, we'll want to create more of them for the rest of the fighters, and probably the shuttles. Anything is better than what we're dealing with now."
"I agree," Bremerton said as he walked by Wellard's console.
"Well, other than that, how does he intend to study the damned thing. That sheet of metal has to be six meters across and just as long. There's no way they're transporting it through the ship in one piece."
"For now they've blocked off part of t
he fighter deck to use as a workstation. Vaughn has some of the idle engineers building a few temporary walls around the device to give him a quiet space to work. With any luck, he'll be working on it within the hour."
"Good. We need to get as much information it thing as we can. How it works, why it works, and what we can do to stop it from working without destroying the ship. I feel like we're killing hundreds of innocent people every time we destroy one of the hijacked ships."
"Me too," Bremerton admitted. "I also hope he can build a device capable of detecting the anomalies from the bridge. By the time we send out the fighters, it's almost too late to stop a fight."
"I agree. Having to send out a bird to check any vessels we come across seems like a risk. All it takes is one cantankerous old fart of a captain to get the wrong message, then next thing you know we're starting an intergalactic war with the EU."
"Or a civil war within the NEC."
"Neither is optimal," Wellard agreed. "Still, having the capability to detect the anomalies from the fighters is better than we have now."
Anything was better than they had now, which was nothing. The only way they even had a clue was if the ship was blocking communications into the bridge. If the crew inside was hijacked and some of the bridge crew loyal or at least working with those taking the ship, they'd never know until it was too late. Sort of like the situation they faced on the Providence, but worse.
"Sir, picking up a few contacts on the other side of the sector."
"What are we dealing with, Midshipman? Another capital ship?"
"Negative, Captain. It's the vessels we saw earlier. The ones you told to leave."
"Where are they and what are they doing?" Wellard asked, wishing the ships were close enough to see on the main viewscreen, but as it was, he would be lucky if they were little more than specs. He supposed they were sitting on the other side of the system waiting for them to leave so they could get back to scavenging through the remains. If that was the case, they were going to be disappointed as he had already sent a message back to New Earth Station for them to send a few ships back to take control of the area. By the time the NEC was done with the system, there wouldn't be anything worth taking.
"For now they are hanging out near Gibraltar Four. Probably waiting for us to leave so they can get back to salvaging the wreckage."
"Keep an eye on those ships. If they move from the planet, let me know."
Wellard wished he'd received confirmation from New Earth Station. He didn't like the idea of leaving the mess for anyone to pick through, but he couldn't afford to wait around for someone to show up after they'd found what they were looking for. Protecting NEC technology was vital, but so was finding the ship and people responsible for destroying the station."What's the status of our search? Tell me they've found a few more of the boxes by now."
"They have, Captain," Bremerton said, his eyes still focused on his monitor. "So far we've recovered three from the NEC ships and two from the EU vessels. Still no sign of the one from the base, but most the pilots are focusing on the central wreckage. If the scavengers haven't picked it up already, they should find it soon."
"Very well. If anything changes…" Before he said another word, klaxons blared through the ship as three of the scavengers appeared in front of them followed shortly by the other two. "How the hell did they do that?"
Ritter didn't have time to answer before the ships fired.
Chapter Twenty
Gibraltar Sector
Bridge, NECS Endeavor
"Return fire on the lead ship with our full array of weaponry," Wellard said, his command directed at Lieutenant Commander Wilson. Wilson barked his acknowledgment before sending the commands to the weapons teams spread throughout the ship. While Wellard directed the battle with the ship, Jason opened a channel to the CIC. Within a matter of seconds, he was greeted with Commander Thompson's familiar voice.
"Pilots are suiting up now, Commander. The ones we had searching the debris are being recalled as we speak, no sense in risking the lives of the engineers."
"How long until the birds are in the air, Valarie? We won't last long unless they can create a diversion."
"A few minutes. Long enough for them to suit up and get into their birds. Means we'll run the baseline, but it should be sufficient."
"It will have to do," Bremerton agreed. "Captain Wellard has the weapons crew focusing on the lead ship. Split your squads in two and concentrate on the next closest ships. Weapons are the primary target, but if they can knock out a thruster or two, we won't complain. Once one ship is defenseless, have them move onto the other ships and repeat."
"Sounds like as good a plan as any. I'll keep you informed on our progress."
"That will work," Bremerton said. He was about to thumb off the comm when he remembered Richards was working on the anomaly. While researching it was a priority, they needed him more on the bridge. "Val, if you could send Richards back up to the bridge. Tell him I'm sorry for pulling him off his research but he's needed up here."
"I'm sure he'll understand," Val said. "One of my aides is heading his way now. Should be up your way in a few minutes."
"Thanks again. Bremerton, out."
Captain Wellard nodded his approval at Jason's actions. It was one thing Bremerton liked most about the man. He was quick to tell you when you were doing well though it came with him being just as quick to tell you when you were screwing up. He supposed it was better to get the feedback though he was sure the crew didn't like it half the time.
"Calling the engineer back to the bridge I see. I assume you have something more important than his research planned for him."
"I do, Captain. Call it a hunch, but I'm not so sure we're dealing with your everyday pirates and looters here."
Wellard laughed. "What was your first sign? The fact they never left the system or that they jumped from Gibraltar Four using technology that isn't supposed to exist."
"Oh it exists Captain," Richards said, strolling onto the bridge. "We use the technology every day ourselves."
"No, we use jump gates to get between systems. Hard as we've tried, our ships aren't capable of building enough power to make such a jump possible. And if we can't jump like that, there's no way in hell they should've been able to."
"Yet here they are," Bremerton interrupted. "Which is why I wanted Richards here." He glanced over at the engineer who had just sat at his station. "I need you to hack into one of their ships. Focus your attention on the cameras on their bridge."
"What good is that going to do? The only thing that will tell us is who we are dealing with."
"Exactly. By seeing who is controlling the ships, we'll have a better idea what to expect."
"I don't follow," Wellard said, stroking his chin.
"So far the only hostile ships we've encountered were ships that were hijacked from us, and so far we've found them early after being taken. These frigates, on the other hand, are unknown. Sure, we can use the computers to match up the designs, but that will only get us so far."
"What the commander is trying to say is that the aliens have likely been modifying the ships. We saw evidence of them making changes on the Providence, but they didn't spread much past the anomaly itself. I'd be willing to bet, with time we would see the larger ships using the same drive."
An explosion from one of the lower decks sent anything not latched down to the floor. Bremerton held onto his console to avoid joining his paperwork.
"Damage report," Wellard said.
"So far the Endeavor seems to be holding up to their weaponry rather well."
"Then explain that blast."
"About that," Rayne said. "The ships figured that out fairly quickly, so they've put themselves into position to combine their fire. Where they're able to put two or more lasers in a single spot, they've been able to cut through the armor. So far hull integrity hasn't been compromised, but it's just a matter of time until it is."
"Wilson, evacuate the decks where t
heir weapons are focused for now. Weapons teams in the area are to put on their vac suits and stay, even if that means they are inactive for a minute. But urge them to hurry."
"Aye, Captain."
Dozens of smaller explosions pocked the lead frigate where the gauss cannons ripped into the enemy hull. Combined with the half-dozen laser batteries in range and the ship's remains should've been added to the debris field around them. Wellard hadn't seen anything like it in his life. Never had a frigate held up to the might of a heavy cruiser, but he suspected it would happen again.
"Commander, I'm through," Richards said. "Should I patch it on the main screen?"
Bremerton nodded, and seconds later the view of the main screen was split between the battle and the view from the lead frigate's bridge. The first thing Wellard noticed was the abundance of Klyptons on the bridge. Dozens of them were running around, each doing some unknown task that seemed intent on damaging the Endeavor.
"Looks like there's more to this than we thought," Wellard remarked. "For giggles, try to send a message to that lead ship. Let's see how they react."
"They're blocking our communication, Captain."
"An anomaly?" Wellard asked, sitting up in his chair. Did these ships have the same devices they'd found on a handful of capital ships already? Did that mean they'd been hijacked too?
"I don't believe so," Ritter said. "From what I can tell the ship is blocking all communication in and out, but it doesn't seem to leave their ship."
"Even still. We need to know for sure." Wellard stood, eyes not leaving the screen. "Captain to Bobcat, do you read?"
Infamy (The Mythrar War Book 2) Page 7
