Junkyard Dogs series Omnibus

by Phillip Nolte

  "Harris?" Kresge thought out loud. "I'll bet it was Harris. He and Carlisle and Hawkins were supposed to be out in the yard for a few days. He probably got to the auxiliary tracking station and used the Stage I communicator from out there. I knew I liked that boy!" Then he became more sober. "No other survivors?"

  "I couldn't tell from what I heard."

  "Any indication of why they attacked the Scrapyard, destroyed the Boise, and took over the station?"

  "Maybe," said Rothwell. "As I said, they wanted to take out long range communications. Their real objective seems to be the Meridian Ambassador. They said that the Ambassador was gonna be real surprised when his ship gets here. I think they're gonna try to capture him alive. I didn't hear any more than that. They left the room and I decided to get down here and let you know what I'd found out. Sorry about your Scrapyard, Commander."

  "Thanks...I can't change any of that. Well done, Harvey! Go get something to eat."

  Kresge's look was dangerous. He swore under his breath as he headed back to the mess area.

  "The sons of bitches attacked my Scrapyard. They're gonna wish they hadn't done that. From now on, this is personal!"

  Chapter 25

  ...The final configuration of the Federation Navy projectile launcher, also referred to as a "railgun," made for a most formidable weapon. Capable of launching projectiles of nearly five hundred millimeters in diameter (these were the largest ever manufactured -- larger diameters were theoretically possible, though probably not practical) at velocities up to nine thousand meters per second, these weapons were capable of inflicting an enormous amount of damage. The fact that these velocities were obtained by the use of a linear mass driver powered by the superb Parkinson capacitor discharge system meant that the ships mounting these weapons were not required to carry large quantities of bulky and potentially dangerous propellants for the projectiles. Often the warheads themselves were not required to contain any explosives either; the vaporization of the projectile on impact due to the extremely high kinetic energy imparted by the extraordinary velocities was usually sufficient to destroy or significantly damage any target. Different degrees of penetration through armor could be obtained by altering the jacket material of the projectile -- greater penetration being obtained by a material that held the projectile together a few fractions of a millisecond longer...

  ...Several serious limitations led to the eventual demise of the projectile weapon, however. The use of projectiles dictated that warships were limited to a finite number of salvos before running out of ammunition. The sheer mass of the projectiles, as well as the turrets and launch tubes associated with the systems, added prohibitively to the energy required to maneuver and alter the velocity of the ship, in addition to slowing these activities down. Naturally the situation was much worse in the case of the larger ships...

  ...The pulse beam system utilizes a more highly-developed form of the Parkinson capacitor discharge bank. The extreme power demands of pulse beams are well known, but Sigvald Parkinson himself demonstrated that making the capacitor charging system an integral part of the ship's fusion power plant made the pulse beam practical and reliable. Finite supplies of ammunition and vast amounts of excess mass were no longer at issue...

  ...Projectile weapons were quickly phased out when effective pulse beams and hyperelectromagnetic shielding were perfected just before the beginning of the War of Succession. As had happened so many times in the past, the demands of war drove the development and refinement of weapons systems at a vastly accelerated pace. Navies adopted the pulse beam weapon almost immediately and only a few ships of mixed projectile/pulse beam armament were ever developed. Early versions of the pulse beam weapon, such as those used in the Succession War, were quickly superseded by far more powerful types as they became available...

  ...Guided missiles were, of course, used throughout this same period and continue to be used as this report is being prepared. Though they suffer from some of the same limitations as projectile weapons such as excessive mass, use of dangerous propellants, and finite numbers, the ability to select and lock onto targets as well as the ability to travel in a non-linear fashion and to change course during flight are advantages too great to ignore...

  ... There is a persistent, but unconfirmed rumor that early forms of the shield, such as those used by the opposition in the Succession War, could be penetrated by projectiles under special conditions (see Talbot et al, 2547)...

  Hartwell Wrist Comp reference note highlighted for further review by Tamara Carlisle. Excerpt is from "Naval Weapons in Transition: The Case Against the Projectile Launcher," by Charles Nolan.

  UTFN Reclamation Center, onboard the wreck of FNS Terrier October 6, 2598.

  Carlisle and Hawkins arrived at the hatch that led to the capacitor bank for the portside launcher in the aft turret of the old destroyer. Hawkins opened the hatch with no difficulty and made his way inside as Carlisle waited.

  "How's it going back there?" asked Harris over the suit communicator.

  "Hawk is down in the base of the turret now," replied Carlisle.

  "Lass?" said Hawkins. "The capacitor bank be fried but could you be comin' down here? I need you to be checkin' somethin' against your schematics."

  "Sure, Hawk, I'll be right down."

  She headed downward into the base of the turret and found him at the forward end of a mass of blackened wires, charred coils, and melted components that had once been a capacitor bank, frowning at a cable that came out of the capacitor enclosure and disappeared through a neat, but obviously non-specification opening that routed the cable towards the bow of the ship. The opening had been sealed up around the cable with a large glob of emergency sealant.

  "What is it, Hawk?" asked Carlisle.

  "Would you be seein' if this cable be on your schematics, Lass? I dinna think it's supposed to be here."

  Carlisle brought up the schematic and looked it over for several minutes.

  "Mass driver...capacitor bank...black cable?...No, Hawk, whatever that cable is for, it wasn't in the original design specs for the ship. Nothing in any of the later refit update reports either, at least not in anything that I have. My guess is that whoever ran that cable did it after the last refit." She paused to check a cross reference before continuing. "That would mean it was done sometime within the last year that the ship was in service."

  "Pardon me, Lass, but could you maybe be takin' a look at where that cable be comin' from? You mustn't be offended, but wee as you are in the first place and bein' in that wisp of a suit, maybe you can squeeze back in there and be seein' what they did."

  "It'll take more than that to offend me," she said, smiling at the older man and noting, with some affection, his chivalrous regard for her feelings. "You want me to trace this cable back?"

  "If you could."

  She squeezed into the small space between the bulkhead wall and the capacitor bank before taking a moment to check the schematics again.

  "Black cable...mass driver...mass driver? It looks like they disconnected the feed to the railgun above. Why in space would they do that?"

  "I dinna have an answer either. Come on out, Lass. Let's be checkin' the starboard launcher."

  They found the identical situation on the starboard side of the ship, a fried capacitor bank and a non-spec cable. Carlisle squeezed into a mirror image of the area she had inspected on the port side and discovered, as she had expected, that the starboard railgun had also been disconnected. She and Hawkins looked at each other.

  "This is really strange, Hawk. Check it out. The cable on this side isn't as thick."

  "Nay, it isn't. Maybe they be runnin' out of the thicker stuff, whatever they were tryin' to do." Hawkins shook his head.

  "Did you check the magazine?"

  "Nay, Lass, not yet. It be back that way, separate from the capacitor enclosure."

  They made their way towards the rear of the ship. The nearby magazine area was heavily armored with hull material that was at
least twice as thick as the material that made up the rest of the ship, with the exception of the outer hull itself. A quick check revealed another curiosity; the aft magazines were nearly full.

  "This is strange, it looks they didn't even try to fire the aft guns."

  "Aye, and yet the capacitors be burned out."

  "Well, at least we have plenty of ammo."

  "It'll only be helpin' if we have something to shoot it with, Lass. Let's be checkin' the forward gun emplacements."

  "Lieutenant, are you getting all this?" asked Carlisle.

  "Yeah, I'm following. Check the forward guns. I'll be monitoring you."

  With Carlisle consulting the schematic for the ship, and Hawkins his memory, they made their way forward. Their route took them through one of the cargo holds where they saw a scattering of cargo modules and several stacks of barrels marked "United Terran Federation Navy Type B Silicon Fluoride Nanite (SFN) Ion Drive Reaction Fluid." Carlisle smiled as she recalled Harris' lecture back on the main station just a day or so ago.

  "That must be some of the material Harris was talking about," she said.

  "Lass?"

  "Sorry, Hawk. It's just something that Harris told us about back on the main station. He said most of these ships have lots of reaction fluid and sealants on board. Looks like he wasn't exaggerating."

  "Aye, that be true. The stuff be all over the place." He turned to shine his suit lights on another stack of drums lashed down on the other side of the hold. "Those be sealants over there."

  Hawkins quickly led them through several more closed hatches and into the front turret area. Here things were different because of the damage to the forward part of the ship. The port side gun was easy to check because there was no damage on that side. Hawkins could tell as soon as he entered the enclosure that the forward portside capacitor bank was also burned out. A quick inspection also revealed yet another mysterious cable, this time running from the capacitor bank towards the aft part of the ship. It appeared as though it might have been connected to the forward capacitor bank but everything was such a charred mess that it was hard to tell for certain. Once again the two inspectors looked at each other.

  "What do you want to bet that this is the same cable that ran from the aft capacitor bank, Hawk?"

  "Aye, Lass, I agree, I suppose we could try to trace it back but it be the same color and the same thickness. Heck, even the sealant looks like it be put on by the same guy. I wonder what in space they were doin'?"

  That left the only the starboard gun. Here, however, the situation was a bit more difficult. Due to the damage on the old ship's starboard side, a bulkhead was bowed inward and the hatch to the capacitor area was jammed tight. Hawkins worked on it for a few minutes before he gave up, went back to the sled and brought back a portable plasma cutting torch and a pry bar. He expertly burned through the hinges on the heavy door and used the bar to pry the recalcitrant hatch cover open. Careful not to touch any of the jagged edges he had just created, he went in to inspect the starboard capacitor bank. A few minutes passed.

  "Be careful, Lass, but I need you to be comin' in and seein' this."

  Carlisle made her way carefully through the hatch opening. Instead of the charred and distorted machinery that they had seen in the other three capacitor enclosures, the starboard side was, to all appearances, undamaged. A further quick inspection revealed the mystery cable coming from aft, the thinner one on this side, only this cable had burned through, right where it presumably had connected to the forward bank.

  "I wanted to do it anyway, Hawk, but I wonder if we can salvage the log for this ship. Maybe we could find some kind of explanation."

  Hawkins nodded. "Good idea, Lass. At least this capacitor bank seems to be okay."

  "I'll see if I can get power to the ship's command console," said Harris, from the bridge. "I'd like to have a look at the log book, too."

  A quick check of the forward magazines revealed that the starboard side, the one with the intact capacitor bank, was empty. The port side, with the fried capacitor, had only three projectiles remaining.

  Chapter 26

  UTFN Reclamation Center, on board the wreck of the FNS Terrier, October 6, 2598

  A war council took place on the bridge of the old ship. Carlisle and Hawkins, just back from their scouting trip to check out the Terrier's ancient railguns, had removed their helmets, but were still in their space suits.

  "How much time have we got before the raiders get back here?" asked Carlisle

  "If my time estimates are anywhere near accurate, at least fourteen hours, probably more," answered Harris. "Obviously, that's not a lot of time. What do you think about our chances of getting the gun to work, Hawk?"

  "We'll have to be runnin' a cable from the Rover to the starboard side capacitor bank," said Hawkins. "That should nay be too hard, it only be about 20 meters or so from the life support module. Maybe I can be powerin' up the turret, too."

  "The gun may be the least of our worries," said Harris. "How in space are we going to make the rest of this plan work?"

  "Let's have a look," said Carlisle. She brought up a holo display from her wrist computer. The display, part of the wealth of data which she had downloaded from the tracking console, showed the most current configuration the artifacts in the military section. "The raider ship will almost certainly come down the main access corridor, right here," said Carlisle, pointing to the area in question on the holo display. "We just need to position this ship somewhere along the corridor. I'd say right about here."

  She pointed to an area near the corridor that contained a small cluster of ships and larger pieces of scrap. "This cluster of junk would also be a good place to hide the ship. If we clear out a couple pieces of scrap...there and there...If we can get the gun to work, we'd have a clear shot at them if we need it."

  "We'd have to move the ship into position with one of the Rovers," said Harris. "First things first. Let me get my suit on and let's go see what we need to do to get that gun operational. Oh, before I forget, Ensign, I think I found the log files. You can take a look at them as soon as you get some time."

  Hawkins and Carlisle helped Harris get his spacesuit on and then helped each other change the air packs on their own suits.

  "Okay, gang, let's get on it!" said Harris. He headed for the airlock.

  They began the attempt to get the gun working with the men snaking a cable into the capacitor bank area, leaving Carlisle on the Rover I to help guide the cable off from the reel and through the first couple of hatch doors. They soon ran into problems. On the small ship, there simply was no room for either of the two men to access the connections to the capacitor bank while wearing their utility suits. If the ship had been holding atmosphere and the bulky suits not been necessary, the two skilled engineers could have accomplished the task in a matter of just a few minutes. After five minutes of frustration they called on Carlisle.

  "Ensign? Can you come in here for a minute?" asked Harris. "I think we need you."

  "Be right there."

  She followed the cable that the two men had laid to its end and found them looking at the capacitor bank.

  "You'll be rememberin' how you had to check connections for me when we were here earlier, don't you Lass?"

  "Yes, you wanted me to look at the extra wiring."

  "I think the problem is fairly obvious, Ensign," said Harris, holding up the end of the new power cable. "Neither one of us can fit into that tight space with these suits on. Do you think you could slip in there and hook this up for us?"

  "I can sure as hell give it a try. Just tell me what you need done."

  "Can you bring up a schematic with a wiring diagram for this capacitor bank on your wrist computer?"

  "I think so. Give me a minute." She began speaking softly. By this time, her companions could usually tell if she was communicating with her computer or free associating using her customary thought processes.

  "Orion Mark IV...capacitor...wiring diagram...exec
ute!"

  The holo diagram appeared in the void in front of them. They gathered around it and began to discuss details.

  "Last time you went in there it was to check on some non-specification wiring," said Harris. "Where exactly was it connected?"

  "They had patched it in right there." She pointed to the spot on the hologram.

  Harris nodded his head. "Okay, here's what we need you to do. We know that the non-spec wire burned through but we think it's best if you disconnect it first anyway. No need to take any chances. Once you've done that, we want you to connect three of the wires in this cable to these terminals here, here and here." He pointed to the terminals on the diagram. "Hawk has already stripped the ones you'll need."

  "Can do. Anything else?"

  "Yes, there is. These are pretty hefty wires and they'll be bolted on securely. Have you ever used one of these powered wrenches?"

  "No, I haven't."

  "Hawk?" said Harris.

  Hawkins demonstrated the function of the wrench.

  "You're weightless, Lass, so you gotta make sure you're properly braced, or it'll be spinnin' you around and not the bolt. Whatever you be doin', you must na' hold it like this," he said, repositioning the wrench to a somewhat awkward angle in his hand, "or you could be breakin' a finger or even your wrist."

  Carlisle shifted into memory chant mode.

  "Three wires, Tamara...brace your body...don't be stupid when you use the wrench... Okay, I think I'm ready."

  She crawled back into the smallish space, dragging the bulky cable behind her. In spite of Hawkins' coaching, the hex nuts on the terminals proved to be very difficult for her to get loose and she spent fully five minutes trying to find some sort of position that would allow adequate bracing for her body without putting her fingers and wrists at risk.

  "Hooray!" she called out, "I finally got one!"

  Once she had figured out the proper technique, the rest of the job was mercifully straightforward. After another ten minutes, she had removed the old cable and had the new one connected. She made her way back out to where her companions were waiting. The entire group retraced their steps back through the ship and connected the cable to the Rover's power supply.