by Jeff Sims
Colin commented, “Well, I think that was a clear and unambiguous order to leave the system.”
Russ said, “Definitely and order, unambiguous is debatable. What do you think carbonated water in a giant laser ball means?”
Jim ignored Russ’ comment for the moment and thought about the tactical situation. They could potentially stop the enemy fighters and probably destroy several warships. However, they would never be able to kill all of them. Besides, Shole told them to run and he believed he knew why. If they died defending Waylon then they could not warn Earth.
Jim said, “Computer, log that message as a direct order and record that we are following it. Then estimate the best time that it would take for a Hiriculan fleet to jump from Conron to Waylon.”
…Several variables have to be estimated to provide a time. There will only be a 90% confidence interval on the estimate…
“That is fine.” Jim answered.
…A conservative estimate is 162 hours.
Jim asked, “Computer, how long did the message take to arrive?”
…The message took 130 hours…
Russ said, “The navigational beacon is located near the hyperspace lane. The missile will have to traverse halfway across this solar system to reach it. If we fire now, it will take the missile 25 hours to complete the journey.”
Jim replied, “Fire three missiles just in case the first two miss. We will not have time for another shot.”
Jim was just being cautious. Hitting a stationary target was relatively straightforward, even if it was halfway across the Waylon system. They had missiles to spare and Shole seemed adamant in her message that the beacon had to be destroyed.
Colin said, “I have an idea. We can query the navigational beacon and have it send us everything in its memory. Perhaps there is something useful stored in the beacon’s memory that Shole wanted us to have or at a minimum erase.”
Russ sent the data request. He said, “Now, what do you think the end of the message means?”
Colin replied, “Carbonated water. We still had some soft drinks left when Kolvak first came aboard. I recall offering one to both Kolvak and Shole.”
“How did they like it?” Jim asked.
Colin answered, “Honestly, they didn’t. However, Kolvak loved swirling the glass and making bubbles appear. Apparently, the Advranki don’t have carbonated drinks.”
Russ said, “She was never one to waste words. She said that last statement for a reason.”
Jim said, “So, Shole is stating that they created bubbles of some kind and left them hidden somewhere in Conron beside a giant laser?”
Colin snapped his fingers and said, “Hyper bubbles. They must have hid some hyper bubbles for us. Without them, we cannot create a window to jump to hyperspace.”
Jim replied, “Well, the good news is that they hid some for us. The bad news is that we will have to go get them somehow.”
“When?” Russ asked.
Colin said, “We need to make this a top priority. I suggest we go now. If the Hiriculans find them before we get there then we will only have one hyper capable ship. Earth simply doesn’t possess the technology to construct hyper bubbles.”
Jim said, “Interesting. We could jump to Uselon and then to Conron. The fleet that is coming here should already be in the Uselon – Waylon hyperspace lane. We could literally pass right by them in hyperspace.”
Colin said, “I am sure that there is still a sizeable fleet left in Conron, even if we do bypass these 15 ships. Shole said 23 ships are guarding Conron.”
Jim said, “Colin, hold that thought for a minute. Computer, display the Conron system on the main monitor and highlight the hyperspace lanes. Add the location of the military space station and the main mining space station.”
Jim walked over to the monitor and circled the six hyperspace lanes in Conron – Advranki Prime, Altian, Solaria, Earth, Uselon, and Opron. He then highlighted Altian hyperspace corridor, the Advranki hyperspace lane, the main civilian station, and the military space station.
Jim said, “Look, if I were going to defend this system I would put a fleet here, here, here, and here. I wouldn’t bother to defend Uselon because I sent a fleet there. I also wouldn’t bother to defend Opron because I came from there.”
Colin said, “So, you’re basically agreeing with me. We should go now because more than likely the hyperspace lane from Uselon to Conron is completely undefended. We could jump into the system, micro jump to the giant laser ball, grab the bubbles, and leave. Easy peasy popcorn weasy.”
Russ said, “There is a complication.”
Jim responded, “There always is. What is it?”
Russ said, “We can go that way, but we cannot return. The Hiriculans will simply follow us. Or the fleet chasing us will catch us in Uselon.”
Jim said, “Not good. Is there a work-around?”
Russ said, “I made an interesting observation during our stay in Waylon. I don’t know if this counts as a plan though.”
Jim said, “Continue.”
Russ continued, “Well, I was bored one month so I reviewed every single hyperspace jump that the Sunflower made. The overwhelming majority were straightforward; we jumped from point A to point B.”
Russ: “There were two unusual jumps. The first we have discussed previously. The Sunflower was in Waylon and physically jumped to Earth, but the transponder said a different destination. Clearly someone manually calculated the coordinates and somehow overrode the system.”
Russ continued, “That one is of little value to us at the moment, but the second one could help us.” Russ brought up a chart showing the Netron system and the Sunflower’s circuitous path around the outside of the system.
Jim interrupted, “When we were running from the Hiriculans after that very first battle we skirted around the entire Netron system.”
Russ said, “Yes. I believe that we can jump around the far outskirts of a system and remain undetected. That was how we escaped capture right after we killed the two destroyers in Hepitila.”
Jim said, “That means that we could jump around Conron, then Uselon, then Waylon and exit hyperspace at the Waylon – Earth hyperspace lane. Then we could jump to Earth and they would have no idea where we went.”
Russ said, “There is another complication.”
Jim nodded knowingly and responded and said, “I wondered when one of you two was going to bring that up.”
Colin said, “As you probably already know, we don’t have time to jump the station to safety and return before the Sunflower has to leave. Besides, we would have to leave one tug here in Waylon. That would look extremely suspicious.”
Jim said, “I just have an uneasy feeling that the Hiriculans know that the mining drill and corresponding platform should be in Waylon. The space station should be here too for that matter. If I were the Hiriculan commander in charge, I would begin a search of the area immediately around the system and see if I could find where it was hidden.”
Colin replied, “We hid it ¼ of a light year from the system. It would take the Hiriculans 3 months to find it… if they even bother to look for it.”
Jim said, “I don’t want to risk it. We need to send them to Earth now. We will have to split up. Some of us will have to move the station and the mining drill to Earth.”
Colin replied, “Besides, it really isn’t practical to have 80 people on the cruiser.”
An (formerly) Alliance cruiser was designed to hold 50 beings – 20 pilots, 5 engineers, 5 bridge staff, and 20 for all other duties. The humans had added 5 marines to the crew and subtracted three bridge positions; making their total 52.
Jim really wanted to add a second wing of pilots for this mission, but that would bring the total to 72. More importantly though, that would only leave 8 people to move the space station. That wasn’t nearly enough.
Jim asked, “What is the minimum number of people required to operate the tugs and keep the station in standby mode until we get back?” Ji
m already thought that he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear their advice.
Colin said, “You need at least 2 people in each tug, a pilot / navigator and a systems specialist to ensure that the tug stays aligned with the other tugs. Realistically though you need 4 people per tug so that they can ease the workload.”
Jim said, “I agree. The station needs 16. That means that we can only take 64. If we pull 3 from maintenance, that leaves us with 49, including the 5 marines. That leaves us with an intriguing decision.”
Russ summarized, “We can either take all 20 pilots from Alpha Squadron or a combination of 5 marines and 15 pilots.”
Jim stated, “We are taking the marines. I think we need the flexibility. Kip will have to compensate by using the marines as his 5 replacement pilots.”
He turned to Colin and said, “Colin, either you or Mike have to stay with the station. We have to ensure that at least one of our two best mathematicians reaches Earth.”
Colin said, “Understood.”
Kip simply chose the top 15 ranked pilots to go on the mission. This meant that John Appleby was the only replacement pilot to go on the mission. The other 5 Victory Games employees were going to pilot the tugs and return to Earth.
Colin separated the engineers and maintenance workers. Four of the five original engineers John, Ben, Becky and Colin were staying on the cruiser. Four maintenance workers decided to join Mike and stay with the station. The remaining 16 drew straws to see which 10 got to go on the mission.
Colin’s choices were based on ensuring that there was enough experience and knowledge to fix any system; and if the worst were to happen to the Sunflower, to train Earth on advanced systems.
Colin and Kip reported that they had made their choices. Jim sent out a general message to everyone with the basic parameters of the plan and listed who was going on each mission. He also informed everyone to report to their respective locations. He asked Mike to come to the bridge.
While they were waiting, Russ said, “I studied the route that we will take. We have to micro jump around Waylon, then jump to Uselon, and finally to Conron. Then we will have to take the roundabout journey back.”
Jim asked, “How long in total then?”
Russ answered, “A best case scenario is 18 days round trip. More than likely we will need several extra days because we will have to ensure that they aren’t following us. So, we will probably be gone 20 or so days.”
Mike entered the bridge and said, “You wanted to see me captain?”
Jim said, “Mike, as you probably already heard we are splitting into two groups. One group is taking the Sunflower to Conron to retrieve some hyper bubbles; the other group is going to take the space station and laser drill to Earth. I am putting you in command of the space station mission.”
Jim continued, “I want you to jump the space station to our solar system. Leave it about 1 hyper second from the system.”
Mike thought for a moment and said, “An hour in hyperspace equals .5 of a light year, so stopping 1 second short means that we are about 1.3 billion kilometers (800 million miles) short of the system. That is roughly ten times the distance from the Sun to the Earth. I take it that you want to stay undetected from Earth’s scanning systems.”
Jim replied, “Yes. Then detach the station, jump back to Waylon, grab the laser drill and control station, and return to the same location.”
Mike again did a few mental calculations and said, “The jump is 11 hours each way, so with the 10 to 1 dilation it will be 330 hours. With time to unfasten the tugs call it 340 hours total, or just over 14 days.”
Jim said, “When you have completed your task, I want you to wait there until the Sunflower arrives.” Jim paused for effect and added, “If we aren’t there after 21 days, you are to proceed directly to Earth.”
“Without you.” Mike replied.
Jim continued, “Mike that is a direct order. If we aren’t there after 21 days we probably aren’t coming. It will be up to you to defend Earth from the Hiriculans. Is that understood?”
Mike replied, “Yes. I understand. If you die you can rest assured that we will bring the equipment to Earth and defend it from the Hiriculans.”
The next 10 hours were a whirlwind of motion. The crew spent 8 hours making as many missiles as possible. They then transferred the missile making equipment to the space station. They also transferred any and all spare parts and equipment to the station. If they didn’t think they were going to need an item for the mission, they transferred it on the station.
Finally, everyone said their goodbyes and those going to Earth transferred to the space station. Jim opened a channel and had everyone that was supposed to be on board the Sunflower verify that they actually were on board the Sunflower. He then verified that everyone that was not supposed to be on board was actually not on board.
Jim looked impatiently at Colin. He knew that he couldn’t speed up the speed of light, but he was getting impatient now that it was almost time to leave. Seven months in Waylon was long enough.
Colin said, “I have all of the data from the navigational beacon. I performed a quick scan of the data. It has thousands of jump paths on it; including the paths of all of the gravity missiles.”
“Meaning,” Jim asked.
Colin answered, “I think the Hiriculans could have used the information like we did to ascertain the probable location of Earth or at a minimum locate a very good starting point to search for it.”
They still had 22 hours until the earliest estimate of the Hiriculan fleet’s arrival. Well, technically they only had 16 hours because the light from their departure would stay in the system for another 6 hours.
Jim didn’t see any reason to wait another minute though. He stated that it was time to leave. Russ carefully undocked the ship from the station and eased it into the middle of the Waylon – Earth hyperspace lane. He could have used any location for the micro jump, but this location just somehow seemed right.
He typed in the coordinates, double checked them for accuracy, ran a simulation and declared that they were ready to jump to the Waylon – Uselon hyperspace lane.
Jim said, “Russ, contact the space station. I want them to jump 2 minutes after us.”
The Sunflower disappeared. Two minutes later the station disappeared.
The Sunflower made two 9 minute micro jumps around the gravity of the Waylon system. They stayed as close as they could to the system’s edges to minimize the jump’s time. There was no particular reason to stick to the outskirts on this particular jump.
They reached the Waylon – Uselon hyperspace lane just under seven hours later. Russ contacted the traffic control beacon and received a set of coordinates for the jump. He entered them into the navigational computer, double checked them for accuracy, ran a simulation, and declared that they were ready to leave. He didn’t bother to tell the beacon of its imminent destruction.
Russ said, “The three missiles that we launched earlier won’t impact for another 14 hours. If we fire a missile from here, it can reach the beacon in about 2 minutes.”
Jim said, “Do it. I would like to know for certain that the beacon was destroyed.”
They watched as the missile detonated against the beacon and destroyed it. Russ pressed the engage button and the Sunflower then jumped to Uselon.
………..…………
Fourteen hours later the three original missiles hit the exact same area and pulverized any sliver of remaining metal. The navigational beacon was completely and thoroughly destroyed. There was absolutely nothing left bigger than an electron.
(While this was wholly irrelevant to mention, it seemed like it could be a point of contention. Was there something left of the beacon and did the Hiriculans find it? The answer is no, there was nothing left of it. In fact, the Hiriculans didn’t even bother to look for it when they arrived in the system. They just took one quick look, turned around, and went back to Conron.)
Chapter 11
“Goo
dnight Ponwe, have a great day.” Loid said and smiled broadly.
Ponwe looked up from his monitor, spotted Loid, and answered, “Good night? It is 8:00 in the morning.”
Ponwe then realized that Loid had also told him to have a great day. He asked, “Did you work 1st shift?”
That had been a source of consternation between the two for last few weeks. Ponwe thought it was very straight forward – the shift from 12:00 to 8:00 am was technically the first shift of the day, so it should be called 1st shift. That made 8:00 am to 4:00 pm 2nd shift and 4:00 pm to 12:00 am 3rd shift.
Loid disagreed. He felt that since the majority of beings worked from 8:00 to 4:00 that it should be called 1st shift. They had certainly called it 1st shift during construction. On the occasional times that they needed to work a split shift to accomplish a particularly arduous task, the crew would work from 4:00 pm to 12:00 am. This was the 2nd shift assigned for work and therefore was called 2nd shift. Third shift therefore was defined as 12:00 am – 8:00 am, but wasn’t used during construction.
The discrepancy had become an issue when they started providing around the clock maintenance support for the new building. Ponwe, the overall project manager, had eventually made the unilateral decision to name the shifts the way that he wanted them named. However, most workers subtly revolted by calling the shifts day, evening, and midnight instead of the assigned numbers.
Loid responded, “Yes. We needed a few extra people for a big project, so I and several others volunteered to work the midnight shift this week.”
Loid realized that he potentially said too much and hoped that Ponwe wouldn’t ask any follow-up questions. There was no big project that had been announced and the personnel reassignment was supposed to be kept a secret.
“What big project?” Ponwe asked.
Loid lied effortlessly, “There is a minor backup in the sewer just outside one of the secondary evaporators. We tried to flush it out by shutting down several of the sewer passageways and flushing the pipe with water. It worked for the most part, but there is still a minor logjam.”
