Junkyard Dogs series Omnibus

by Phillip Nolte

  "You mean we were trying to charge all eight of these sub-modules at once?" asked Harris.

  "That would appear to be the case," replied Talbot. "I will guarantee you that the power interface for the railguns, which we have the emplacement connected to, is simply not up to handling that kind of power demand!" He frowned in thought, before continuing. "Since we haven't been able to fully power the turret's operating systems, we aren't going to be able to reprogram the computer. There might be a way, however... Ah! Do you suppose we could figure out a way to manually isolate the individual sub-modules and charge them up separately?

  The group looked at the projection for a bit longer but no one could find fault with Talbot's reasoning. The excitement level in the crowded capacitor chamber began to ramp up considerably as a solution to their problem began to jell.

  "I believe you might be on t'somethin', Frank," said Hawkins, still looking at the projection.

  "...battle damage...partial function...I'll see if I have anything under emergency procedures," said Carlisle as she cut the holo display and consulted another of the vast number of files stored on her wrist computer. The three men watched as she did her computer magic yet another time while talking out loud. "Bofors twin... emergency procedures... capacitor charging... Hmmm..." She actually stopped thinking out loud as she got more engrossed in the subject.

  Finally she turned again to the three men. "There is a procedure to operate the system with disabled sub-modules. You just have to bypass the bad ones by routing power around them. We might be able to do something similar. We should be able to isolate single sub-modules for charging. Only..."

  "Only what, Ensign?" asked Harris.

  "Only we'd have to do it manually every time we want to charge up one of the sub-modules."

  "Show me," said Harris.

  Carlisle led the three men over to one end of the port capacitor stack. The individual capacitor sub-modules themselves were shaped rather like large, long-necked bottles with the neck of each bottle about half the thickness of the base and roughly half the length of the entire module. Each capacitor stack was made up of four of these "bottles" stacked horizontally into a compact cluster. Within the cluster, one of the two lower sub-modules was mounted with the base pointed forward and the other with the base pointed aft. The two upper modules were stacked similarly, with the neck of one alongside base of the other but were arranged just the opposite, with the neck end of the upper module over the base end of the module below and vice versa. The narrower necks of two sub-modules alternating with the swollen bodies of the other two made the stack as compact as possible. There were two racks made up of four capacitor -sub-modules each, one rack for each of the beam projectors, separated from each other by a walkway about a meter wide.

  "If you think of each sub-module as an oversized bottle," Carlisle said, "then the manual overrides are on the bottom ends of the bottles, under a protective cover. That means that there are four overrides for each projector, two on the opposite ends of each stack. See if you can get the cover off from the end of that capacitor you're standing next to, would you Hawk?"

  Hawkins unscrewed two knurled knobs on the end of the capacitor module nearest him and removed a shallow cover, revealing the controls for manually isolating the individual sub-modules from one another.

  "In order to perform the manual switching operation, a single worker would have to run from one end of the stack to the other," said Carlisle. "Alternatively, the operation would require two people, one on either end of the stack."

  "Let's get the rest of these covers off," said Harris as he began working on the covers from the forward end of the Portside capacitor stack. The others pitched in and soon the ends of all eight sub-modules were exposed.

  There was a single large, double-bladed manual switch on the bottom of each 'bottle.' In one position the power was routed to the individual capacitor sub-module. In the other, the unit was bypassed. The four of them played around with the switches to get the feel of them and then, with careful attention to Carlisle's schematics, took the time to determine the sequence of activation and deactivation of each switch that they would have to follow to manually charge each sub-module. Finally, the group reported to Murdock on the bridge to describe to her what they'd found out.

  "We think we may have found a solution to the beam weapon problem, Captain," said Harris.

  "Tell me," replied Murdock. She looked doubtful.

  "Here's what we've got," said the Lieutenant, "the capacitor bank for each of the two projectors is made up of four individual sub-modules. We have the capacitors connected to the power plant using the outputs that were originally used for the Terrier's projectile weapons."

  "That would seem to make the most sense," said Murdock, who was herself a pretty competent engineer.

  "That's what we thought," said Harris. "Trouble is, when we attempted to feed power to the capacitor bank, it tried to draw enough power to charge all eight sub-modules at the same time. Our power plant and the outputs for the weapons were never designed to flow that much power and an overload breaker in the weapons interface kicked the ship's power off to protect all systems."

  "Is there any way we can bypass that breaker," asked Murdock.

  "Nay, Captain," said Hawkins. "It be incorporated into the weapons outputs. We might could replace it with somethin' stouter if we was still bein' in the Scrapyard, but out here, we've nay got the right parts."

  "So, what do you suggest?"

  After a quick consultation with her wrist computer, Carlisle brought up a holographic schematic in the air in front of them. "There are a series of manual overrides on each of the individual sub-modules, Captain." She pointed to the corresponding areas on the schematic. "We think it's possible to isolate each of the individual sub-modules from the other seven and charge them up one at a time."

  "You think?" asked Murdock, her skepticism obvious.

  "Well," said Harris. "We won't know until we test it. And there are some other problems."

  "Like what?"

  "If it works, the power demand will still be substantial. According to what we can piece together from the information in Carlisle's wristcomp and the electrical ratings of the components in the gun emplacement, we figure that even charging one capacitor sub-module at a time will be very close to the limit of the circuit breaker. That and we'll probably need at least six people to operate the projectors."

  "How so?"

  "Well, we'll need at least one person at each end of the capacitor stacks to run the manual switches, one person at the fire control console to monitor power inputs and capacitor charges and then someone to aim and fire the guns."

  "It may not be as bad as you think, Captain Murdock," said Carlisle. "If we have some advanced warning, we think it will be possible to charge all eight of the capacitor sub-modules before we go into any kind of action. If we did that, we'd have eight shots, at the lowest pulse output, before we'd need to charge again."

  "If you get them working, it'll be more than worth the effort," said Murdock, rubbing her chin. "How long do you figure it'll take to charge up one of the sub-modules?"

  "These capacitors aren't nearly as big as the ones that were on those two pirate cargo ships, Captain," said Harris, "and this power plant is quite a bit more powerful. We think maybe fifteen or twenty seconds per module. Give us another, ah... ten seconds to manually activate the necessary switches and we're talking about a half a minute per module. Given a little leeway for the unknown, if we do everything right, we could be fully armed in around five minutes, give or take."

  "When can we be ready for another test?" asked Murdock.

  "We could be ready to charge up one of the sub-modules in just a few minutes," said Harris.

  Murdock, looked at the four of them, Harris, Carlisle, Hawkins and the much older Talbot. "Now would be a good time for a test; that moon and those two ships will be behind the planet for at least a couple of hours yet and, while they are, they shouldn't be able to d
etect a beam discharge, if we should be so lucky. I hope to hell you guys know what you're doin'. Let me remind you that we are alone in a system with at least one armed hostile ship and possibly more. If we lose power, we also lose shields. I say go ahead and give it a test, the sooner the better, so we don't get any nasty surprises if we do need to run or fight or use our shields."

  "There is one more problem, Captain," said Harris, somewhat sheepishly.

  "And that is?" asked Murdock.

  "We have not been able to power up the control systems for the weapon either. Near as we can tell, we're also going to have to manually switch the capacitors back into the system each time we fire a shot. We figure it could take five, maybe ten seconds between shots, as we manually reconfigure the capacitors from charging to discharging when we need to fire."

  Murdock gave him a look, "I could live with that. We're going to have to make this work if we can, Lieutenant, we need those weapons. Take whoever you need and get to it. Make sure everyone knows what they're doing and why. We need to be able to fight this ship!"

  "Aye, aye, Captain," said Harris, "We'll get right on it."

  "Let us know when you're ready for to test charge the capacitors. I'll make some preparations on this end. Make it so, Lieutenant!"

  The engineering group left the bridge to go back and continue working on the pulse beam system. CPO Allen looked over at Murdock. "If you'll pardon my saying so, cobbling this old ship back together has been a real bitch, Captain."

  "Don't worry, Chief, it'll be worth it. Just you wait and see."

  Ten minutes later, Harris poked his head back onto the bridge. "We've switched all but one of the individual sub-modules out of the charging loop, Captain. We're ready to try charging it up whenever you are."

  Murdock called down to the engineering section of the ship, where Hawkins was now monitoring the power plant. "Run her up to full power, Angus. We'll have Harris activate the charging circuit as soon as you get it there."

  A low pitched whine and a high frequency vibration increased in intensity until it permeated the entire ship. "Just a mite more...," said Hawkins, over the ship's intercom. "There she be, Lass, tell 'em to start chargin'."

  "Lieutenant Harris, initiate the charging cycle," ordered Murdock.

  "Aye aye, Captain!" came the reply.

  Two seconds later the lights dimmed, down to an alarming level, before they stabilized and brightened up, though still not to the same level as normal. The whine decreased in pitch until it became more of a growl. Ten seconds later, Harris called over the intercom. "We have a green light on the console! Pull back on the power, Hawk, I think we've got this first module charged."

  Murdock gave the order. Hawkins initiated the transition to a lower power output and the ship's lighting returned to normal levels.

  "I think we need to test fire that gun," said Murdock.

  "Will do, Captain," said Harris, over the intercom. "Give us a few minutes to get ready. We're gonna need Hawkins up here."

  "Let me know when you're ready, Lieutenant."

  Carlisle and Harris waited for about five minutes while Hawkins made sure the power plant was stabilized at normal output levels and then made his way back to the gun emplacement.

  "Hop up in the gunner's chair, Hawk," said Harris. "I'll monitor from down here in the fire control room."

  "Aye, Lieutenant. It'll be a pleasure!"

  "If I'm reading this right," said Harris, "we should be able to channel the power through this fire control console, at least for firing the guns. I'm going to set the starboard gun to fire from the number one capacitor module in the starboard capacitor stack. Do these settings look right to you, Ensign?"

  Carlisle looked at her wrist comp display and then at the settings on the control panel in front of Harris. "...module one...switch at one o'clock...charge light on...Yes, Lieutenant, near as I can tell, it's ready to go."

  "I think we have it set right," said Harris. "Fire when ready, Hawk."

  Looking at the targeting crosshairs through the fire control periscope, Hawkins used the manual gun controls that were in ready reach from gunner's chair. He rotated the horizontal crank in a clockwise fashion with his left hand to initiate the clockwise revolution of the turret. He rotated the vertical crank with his right hand to elevate the starboard projector. He picked out a star in the distance and sighted in on it. "Is everybody being ready?" Hearing only assent, he prepared to activate the weapon. "Firin' in three, two, one...fire!"

  Though it was especially loud in the turret itself, everyone on board the ship was treated to a muted "thwaap" as the pulse beam fired. The engineering group in the turret shouted out in jubilation.

  "Starboard pulse weapon successfully fired, Captain," Harris announced over the intercom.

  "Well done, you guys!" replied Murdock. "Now see if you can charge up more than one module and we'll take some more test shots."

  "Give us a few more minutes, Captain," said Harris.

  "Whatever you need Lieutenant. We should still have some time," said Murdock.

  "Actually, there is something, Sir," said Harris. "Is there anyone else on board who knows how to operate the power plant? We sure could use Hawkins up here."

  "I'm not sure about that...no wait, I do know of someone," said Murdock. "I can do it myself, Lieutenant. Heaven knows, I've done enough of that kind of work. Give me a few minutes to get organized. Chief Allen, you have the con."

  Murdock left the bridge and headed for the engineering section.

  The newly-minted gunnery personnel stayed in the turret and rehearsed the order of switch activation necessary to sequentially charge the four capacitor sub-modules of the starboard pulse projector. After ten minutes and several dry runs, they thought they were prepared enough for a live run. In the meantime, Murdock announced that she was standing by in the engineering section. Harris looked worriedly at his three companions and shrugged his shoulders.

  "Okay, Helen, er...Captain," said Hawkins, "time to be runnin' up the power."

  There was the now expected, noticeable change in pitch and vibration from the power plant. After five seconds, Harris called out from the fire control console that they could proceed with operations to charge the capacitors. Carlisle, stationed at the aft end of the capacitor bank, threw the switch to initiate the charging of module one while Harris monitored the status of the charge from the fire control console. When the full charge indicator went green, he shouted to Carlisle and Hawkins that it was time to cut in the second sub-module. With the first sub-module almost fully charged, it was possible to leave it hooked into the system for a few seconds to top off the charge while the next module was brought in line. The fully charged module wouldn't draw additional power and, hopefully, the recalcitrant breaker wouldn't kick main power off while, at the same time, with the uncharged sub-module beginning to draw power, the power plant wouldn't be generating power that had nowhere to go. They made the transition smoothly as Hawkins switched in the second module and, a couple of seconds later, Carlisle switched out the first. They then repeated the process for the third and fourth modules.

  "Captain Murdock?" said Harris, over the intercom, "This is going pretty well. What say we just keep going and charge up the port side capacitors as well?'

  "Charge them up, Lieutenant," replied the Captain. "We'll have to try the port side eventually."

  The capacitor switching detail crossed the aisle over to the port side and smoothly cut the various sub-modules in and out of the charging cycle as needed. This time the procedure required a little over six minutes before Harris called for Murdock to cut back on main power.

  "All eight modules fully charged, Captain," said Harris, still at the fire control console. He frowned. "I make it just under eight minutes for the first bank and about six and a half for the second."

  "I thought you said it would only take about five minutes, Lieutenant?"

  "I did, Captain, but that was just an estimate. We might be able to do it that quickl
y but we'd have to time all of the switches perfectly and run the power plant up to about a hundred and ten percent. She'll probably handle it, but I don't think it would be wise to risk it unless we haven't any choice. That breaker is just too sensitive."

  "I must agree, Lieutenant," said Murdock. "Good work, you guys!"

  "We should perform some more test firings, Captain, but I'm not sure exactly how to proceed," said Talbot.

  "What do you mean, Frank?" asked Murdock.

  Talbot explained the mixing and matching of sub-modules required to regulate the power of the beam weapons to the Captain.

  "What's your pleasure, Lieutenant?" asked Murdock.

  "As old as this machinery is...," replied Harris, "...I don't know that I'd channel more than two modules at once, Captain. Might be best if we stick with single module pulses, besides, we'll get more shots that way."

  "I agree, Lieutenant," said Murdock. "We take some more test shots using single sub-modules and see what happens. No point in overdoing it."

  Harris manually made the necessary adjustments to the fire control parameters on the engineering console and the Greyhound's crew prepared to fire the weapon. As had happened nearly two months before, when they had been working with the Terrier and her projectile weapons, Hawkins invited Carlisle to take the gunner's chair to aim and fire the weapon. Just as she had been before, back in the projectile turret of the Terrier, she was delighted to do so.

  "Just a minute," said Harris, "We need some kind of target for you guys to shoot at."

  "I've got just the thing," said Talbot. "There are some sighting modules in the control room of the beam emplacement. They're those canisters strapped to the forward wall. Give me a couple of minutes."

  The sighting modules were used to physically calibrate where the pulses from a beam projector were going. When remotely activated, a sighting module would emit a small, spherical cloud of gas especially engineered to fluoresce brightly when a pulse beam went through it. Gunners used the modules to fine tune the alignment of the projectors. Talbot took a few minutes to load and fire one of the sighting module canisters out of the small air cannon, mounted between the beam projectors, which was specifically designed for this purpose.