We watched, once again from the bridge of the Essex, as the alarms howled and its crew ran to battle stations. Before the captain reached the bridge damage reports began flooding in. The footage lasted no more than ten minutes. A handful of fighters were able to launch, but the sensors revealed the approach of over two hundred enemy fighters and destroyers, from which dozens of missiles were being launched. The carrier physically shook as the first missile hit it, followed moments later by missile after missile. A blast front swept the bridge and the last frame showed one of the crew getting decapitated by flying shrapnel. I waved to my exec and she froze that frame. I added, “You are looking at CTech6 Hong. He was thirty-two years old, was married and had three children, ages six, eight and nine. His body was not recovered.”
After a moment I said, “Sir, with all respect, these are the beings you have been tasked with communicating with. At no time have they made any attempt to communicate with us, save for their weapons, their lasers and missiles. So, once again, keeping in mind that I am charged with the responsibility for protecting these few ships and their crews, I ask for your cooperation: how do you wish to open communications?”
The ambassador was obviously shaken by the footage he had just seen. Unfortunately, that didn’t prevent him from being put out by my impertinence. He stood and said, “Young man, when I have something to tell you, I will. Until then, I am finished with you.”
I said, “Sir, I inform you now that unless and until I am satisfied that your plans do not unnecessarily endanger these ships, the technology they represent, the whereabouts of human occupied planets, or our crews, I will maintain a separation of one hundred million kilometers from the alien fleet. My orders are to assume that these beings are hostile unless and until they demonstrate otherwise. In the meantime, this is a military vessel in close proximity to a species with which humanity is at war, as declared by the General Assembly. As a civilian aboard a military vessel in a war zone, you may contact me via the bridge should you wish to leave your quarters. For your own safety, I will provide you with an escort who will remain with you while you are out of your stateroom.”
I stood and said to my exec, “When we approach within three hundred million kilometers from the bug flotilla, I want six Hawks out on station to screen our approach. Additionally, I want all three ships to continue to drill unless we are at battle stations or I inform you otherwise. Captain Turner, please come with me to my quarters. Exec, please comm Master Chief Kana and ask him if he would please report to my cabin.”
I watched as a visibly upset man lurched to his feet and headed for the hatch. I noticed that his aide was failing to hide her own emotions. She had openly gasped as the footage froze.
I did not mention that the man who was in that exact moment getting cut in two had been someone I personally knew and liked. I couldn’t have and remained polite.
The next forty-eight hours passed quickly. Our crews were still very rough around the edges, and we drilled them nearly constantly. We practiced getting the Hawk crews off the ship and back on board their craft, and managed to get it down to twenty minutes. That was actually pretty remarkable, but in combat, twenty minutes are two or three eternities. I spoke to each of my Hawk crews personally, and explained that they would not get much rest once we came within three hundred million kilometers of the bugs. All of the crews had been with me on our attacks against the bugs, and knew the score. They wouldn’t have volunteered for the Hawk if they didn’t want to be uncomfortable, unwashed and exhausted for long stretches of time.
I ordered the Hawks to top off their tanks. The closest fleet base to our present position was Lubya, and I gave orders to my Hawk crews that if worse turned to worst, they were to head for Lubya, but that they better not have one single missile remaining.
That ‘afternoon’ the aide came up to the bridge and asked to speak to me. She hadn’t called beforehand, and hadn’t obtained an escort. I smiled and invited her to come to my quarters. We walked in an uncomfortable silence the few steps to my cabin, where I ushered her in.
I offered her a drink that she refused. I asked, “I am sorry, but we have not been introduced. My name is Lieutenant Padilla, may I know your name?” She said, a little curtly, “I am Hope Carnacion. I am Ambassador Leung’s aide. He has asked me to speak to you concerning our approach to the alien refugee vessels.” I nodded my head agreeably and said, “Of course. It would be a sad testimony if the ambassador who has been charged with communicating with an alien race were to fail to communicate with his own people, would it not?”
I didn’t expect a reply to my largely rhetorical question, and I didn’t get one. I did note, however, that she flushed with a mixture of anger and possibly shame. I didn’t much care what she thought of me.
She said, “We have brought with us some equipment that will require one or two of your technicians to set up. It is with this equipment that we will open communications.”
I had known that our crew had placed a pair of unmarked and reasonably heavy cases in their cabins, and assumed they were what she was referring to. “Please tell me its location and how to identify your equipment and I’ll have my crew move it up to Communications. For your information, the Essex group had a great deal of practical experience in exploration, and despite repeated attempts, we never received one single hint of a message. In fact, it wasn’t until after our first Hawk returned from a long range trip that discovered the location of the aliens that had attacked the Essex, that we even knew how these beings communicated. I was the pilot of that craft, and I had an extremely capable technician aboard. I instructed her to devote her considerable talents to learning how they communicated. From her initial findings, we were able to begin understanding their language.”
Miss Carnacion raised her eyebrows and asked, “You were in charge of that task?” I said, “Yes, Lieutenant Turner and I led all the missions to the various bug flotillas.” It was too late to take back my slip of tongue. She said, “I request that you do not refer to these beings as ‘bugs’, lieutenant.” I almost reminded her that she was in my cabin, on my ship, but thought better of it.
I said, “It was months before we were able to ascertain that the aliens who had been trying to kill us were not at all like bugs, but rather, had four grasping appendages and four legs, if that is what you can call them. And, while we’re on the subject of proper names, no matter what his or her actual rank may be, the commander of a navy ship is addressed as ‘captain’”.
She asked, neatly avoiding having to even acknowledge my request, “Oh, you have seen them?” I nodded my head. She asked, “What are they like. I’m extremely excited at this opportunity to open up a dialogue with another race.” It hit me, hard, that this woman had no clue, either that our first personal contact with this species was in a morgue, or that there had never been any live contact.
I said, “Unfortunately, the aliens we brought aboard our ship were, um, deceased. We have never been able to learn why they attacked us, nor why they continued to attack until they were all dead. However, it might be important to note that every single vessel in the four flotillas that attacked us were military in nature. They did not possess one single vessel that was not a military warship. However, the fifth flotilla which we are now approaching does in fact have a number of vessels that do not appear to be primarily military, although they may perform functions resembling our own escort.”
Miss Koontz said, “Lieutenant, you are hardly an expert on alien species, and you have no basis for identifying the type and nature of their fleets or the craft in them.”
I nodded my head and said, “Lieutenant Turner and I have far more personal experience with this species than any other human beings, alive or dead. However, I understand you to be saying that we have no formal training that would qualify us as experts on this or any other alien species. I would ask you, Miss Koontz, what you would call a fighter sized craft that did not have the ability to carry either cargo or personnel, but did have an eno
rmously powerful laser weapon, as well as anti ship missiles. Their destroyer-sized vessels came in various configurations, some of them featured the ability to launch extremely powerful capital missiles, and others possessed a large number of lasers, otherwise known as energy weapons. They also had a cruiser-sized ship that had large quantities of both lasers and eight or more missile launchers. Then of course, there are the twenty-eight mega ton mother ships which possessed upwards of one hundred fighters and an incredible quantity of lasers. These beings were extremely capable at waging war, and they adapted quickly to our own antiquated weapons and tactics. I believe, therefore, Miss Koontz, that I do in fact speak knowledgeably about this species. They attacked us with no warning, and they displayed all the elements of a highly aggressive and warlike species. These beings left a planet from which all life had been deliberately obliterated, and they have come here, possibly to exterminate us. Your government has tasked Fleet with protecting humanity from the same fate.”
She sniffed her nose in disdain and said, “I can see lieutenant, that this discussion is getting us nowhere. Please note that you are serving in the capacity of providing transportation, nothing more. If we had our way, we would have traveled in something less provocative than a military warship, but your hide-bound admirals refused our request. Now, please be so kind as to do as I have requested.”
I said, “Of course Miss Carnacion, just as soon as you tell me where your equipment is, I will have my crew transport it to communications.” She looked at me with narrowed eyes and said, “Lieutenant, do not attempt to sabotage this mission. I assure you that we will report any such attempt to your superiors.” I grated, “Miss Carnacion, your statement could be taken as an attempt to coerce the captain of a navy vessel to violate regulations. Is that your goal?”
She stood up and said, “The equipment is in my cabin.” I made no attempt to smile or mask my feelings. I said, “I will have someone follow you back to your cabin. I assume that your equipment will be able to communicate in some fashion with the alien species. Do you have instructions for setting it up?” She looked startled for a moment, then said, “I have no idea. That is your responsibility.”
I said, “As you have stated, it is my responsibility to transport you to the area of the alien flotilla. I am not responsible for your equipment, other than to render whatever assistance is within our ability to provide. My personnel and I will do everything possible to assist you. I am merely informing you that absent clear instructions, we may have difficulty in doing so. For your protection, I am detailing a Marine at your hatch. As I informed you earlier, you must inform the bridge when you wish to visit other areas of the ship, and you will have an escort at all times when doing so. You may communicate with me via your Marine escort. With that said, thank you for coming to me. Good day.”
She was a little startled at my dismissal of her, and her face flushed with anger and resentment. She stood up and walked over to the hatch, which, in her anger, she could not open. With a grin, I opened it for her, which merely added to her anger. Well, to date, two visitors, two enemies. A perfect score.
Master Chief Kana took two men to her quarters and reported to me that the equipment consisted of two identical black boxes, one of which appeared to be a backup. There were no instructions, but they had clearly marked attachment points for power and for what appeared to be an output. My guess: an antenna of some sort.
I instructed the chief to take the boxes down to communications, and met him there. The boxes were approximately one by one by one and a half meters in dimension, and very heavy. It appeared that they had a standard antenna output and power inputs, but there were no instructions as to their use, what type of signal they emitted, or anything else. They appeared to be one-offs or prototypes, and didn’t even have any markings on them. They had an internal power supply, presumably for generating the signal itself, but not for powering the transmitter.
I decided to write a formal note to the ambassador, in which I asked for instructions on how to set up their equipment. The ambassador stormed up to my bridge and demanded that I accompany him to ‘wherever I had taken his equipment’. I led him down to the communications shack and pointed to the two boxes. I asked, “Sir, we traveled a great distance, and we are a long way from any support. Do you have instructions telling you how to hook these boxes up? It would be a tragedy if we came all this way only to be unable to utilize your equipment for its intended purpose.”
Ambassador Leung was even angrier after my request than before. He said, “Are you telling me that you cannot install this equipment?” I repeated, “This is the first time we have seen this equipment, they are obviously one of a kind, and, to repeat, you have only now given us access to them. I must assume that the fabricator will have provided you with instructions. Absent those instructions, they are merely useless boxes.”
The ambassador practically shouted, “I am an ambassador, not some petty technician. If you are so inept that you can’t hook up a simple box, I have to wonder just how you got your present position!” With that, he stormed out.
I remained in communications and looked the box over again. I knew there had to be instructions somewhere, and I assumed that Ambassador Leung was playing some sort of game with me. I told my technician not to attempt to connect anything to it until he heard from me.
One hour later, Miss Carnacion came up to the bridge where she silently handed me a small packet. She left just as silently. I opened it and discovered a paper sheet that indicated that the accompanying cube contained all the instructions necessary to install and use the equipment.
I hand carried it back down to communications and commed the ambassador. When he answered I said, “Sir, your aide has just handed me what appears to be instructions for installing your equipment. In light of comments made by both you and your assistant, I deem it advisable that one or both of you be present when we examine the equipment and its apparent instructions.” He asked, “Why, can’t your people do anything without someone holding their hand?”
By now I was long past anger. I replied, “In light of the serious accusations you have levied against the Fleet in general and myself and this command, I must assume you would not wish my technicians to examine your black boxes without you or your aide being present. I am merely offering you the opportunity to observe our technician while she examines your equipment, which equipment I would assume is vital to the success of your mission. Is that a correct assessment?”
After a moment of silence, he said, “I’ll have my aide observe. Where should she go?” I said, “I’ll send someone to take her to communications. When would you like us to begin?” He practically shouted, “Immediately.” I said, “We’ll have someone pick her up in five minutes, sir.” With that outburst, my anger dissipated. I was in a farce.
I hung up and asked the officer of the watch to get someone to guide our attractive yet bad tempered civilian to communications.
As soon as she arrived I instructed our technician to insert the cube and see if we could find specifications of any kind. She did as instructed and we all read along with her. The instructions were in fact quite simple. She hooked up power and antenna leads in less than five minutes, ran some tests that determined that the equipment seemed to be functional, although I gave strict orders not to add power unless I gave the order.
We then looked for instructions on how to hook up a microphone or other input. There didn’t appear to be any, merely an ‘on’ switch. It seemed that the box truly was a black box. We had no idea what it was to communicate. I explained that to Miss Leung and she said, “I’m not at all surprised to learn that you do not understand something.”
I was long past anger, and smiled at her, “Please inform us exactly what it is you wish to communicate, and when you wish us to turn it on. I ask you that as the instructions you have provided us do not provide any information on the output or the effective range of this transmitter. Additionally, they do not detail what is to be communicated
, something I consider to be vital information as it is my ship and personnel who will be endangered by its use.”
She stared at me in confusion for a moment, then said, “I’ll let you know. Is that all you need?” I nodded, as I was pretty sure I would give away my growing mirth were I to open my mouth.
She stormed out of the shack and disappeared. I pointed at my Marine and told her to escort the civilian back to her quarters. She hustled after the furious aide.
I had grown weary of my guests’ habit of walking anywhere they wished. I wrote out a short note, in which I explained that a warship can be a dangerous place to walk around, and ordered, once again, that from this point onward, they inform me via their Marine escort beforehand when they wished to leave their quarters. In addition, I explained that as we were now within approximately twenty-four hours of making contact, they would have to participate in drills.
I received a short note from the ambassador. He refused to participate in any drills, and complained bitterly about the necessity for an escort. Much amused at our antiquated method of communication, I wrote back, “Sir, we are a military craft, under conditions of war, and in a war zone. Both you and Miss Koontz are civilian passengers during time of war. You must participate in our emergency drills so that you will know where to go and what to do in the event that our ship is attacked and either damaged or destroyed. I thank you in advance for your cooperation.”
Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk) Page 55
