Void Dragon

by William Kephart

  "So, massive light. Hundreds of years ago back on Earth old Dr. Gao discovered if you passed light through a differential gravity filter you could alter the shape of the photons and smash 'em together until they had significant mass. Of course, if light has mass it has energy.

  "Solar power, and later true fusion are suddenly viable. There's a new industrial revolution as we discover all the things we can do with it. Pretty much everything runs on the stuff. Best of all, we can weaponize it. Force fields, charges on rail guns, kilometer-long killer spaceships. Boom."

  She turned on her heel and paused for effect. "Then he discovered you could do the same thing with xinium particles. Big boom."

  "Greenshifting, I get it. What does high school level physics have to do with anything?" Wen asked.

  "I’m getting there, if you’d let me finish. So impatient.” Bruzio took a breath. “Okay. The Gao Radiation Energy Event Nadir. When you smash two xinium particles together they release enough energy to tear a hole in space-time. Whatever's inside of that reaction floats around in absolute nothing for a few seconds until reality decides to settle down and it pops in someplace else. We can even control it to a degree."

  "Only to a degree? It's how we move from system to system," Wen said.

  "Sure, sure, but I don't have to tell you how damned inefficient it is, and I should know; I'm an efficiency expert. I used to work on a xinium mining barge back on Jupiter. Xinium mining barges have to be efficient. If one little thing is out of place and your cargo isn't properly contained-BOOM!” She clapped her hands in an exaggerated motion.

  “Too bad my heart couldn't take it anymore, the gravity you know, so now I work for the Naval design bureau."

  "So this ship is...efficient?" Wen asked tentatively.

  "Like no other. It's an improvement in every way over the Mark IV."

  "I've heard about those only just getting open space deployments, never seen one in action."

  "Then you're missing out, Cap. You know how Enemy shields hold just a little longer and their guns hit just a little harder? Not anymore. Now we're even, or we would be if they didn't outnumber us three to one, but never mind that. Wait. Where was I?"

  "You were referring to the efficiency of greenshift jumps," Song said helpfully.

  "That's right. I was. Efficiency. Anyway, it's a nightmare for coordination. There’s always an element of randomness. A fleet of any size will be hopelessly strung out on the other side of a greenshift jump, not to mention completely helpless with shields down and energy sinks empty. Bringing those systems online takes whole minutes and all the while you're sitting ducks for whatever welcoming committee the Enemy has waiting for you. But not anymore.

  "I've invented a new drive core, a prismatic computer that stores data as multi-spectrum light and makes exponential calculations by passing the light through a series non-euclidean geometric constructs. Conventional electronics large enough to do the same job would be too much for even a dreadnought to handle.

  "Imagine coming out of a shift exactly where you mean to. It's merely a matter of controlling the outpour of energy so the space-time is only cut up just so. Not only that, this baby can calculate a path to shift out and disperse excess energy. You don't need a direct path for it all to go."

  "You mean you could keep the shields up during a jump?" Wen asked, clearly interested.

  "Got it in one. No more sitting ducks. And this is to say nothing of how much juice you'll be able to work with. Trust me, she punches above her weight. Way above. We won't know exactly how much until we get her in the field. I suppose that's where you come in."

  "This is all very well, but from what you've said the ship is nothing but a budget dreadnought with some convenient features. I can see the advantage of producing a lot of these quickly as a stopgap, but this doesn't feel like a war-winner to me," Wen said.

  "You don't see? Massive light shields are parabolic, Cap, strong at the bow and weak amidships. You figure it out. It should be obvious what this ship is designed to do."

  "A flanking ship? You expect this vessel to flank the Enemy under fire? I've been in combat and know what happens. Once they have you in range you have to fly defensively, offer them your flank and it's all over. You have to have other ships to pin them down or you can't maneuver at all. Doing what you propose is suicide."

  "I think you'd be surprised, Cap. She's fast. You'll see."

  "I hope so, Professor, really. Being a frozen corpse in a drifting space-wreck is not how I envision my retirement."

  "I can sympathize.” Bruzio gave her a patronizing smile. “Well then, I need to get going. Some simulations need to be run before we set the accelerator rails permanently. Take care of my baby, Cap," she said, and walked off towards a corridor on the other side of the drydock.

  "So what do you think, Captain?" Song asked.

  "She's not exactly...military. Are we that desperate?"

  "We are. But that's not why she was chosen. She really is the best we have. Some of our finest engineers are Mei, you know. The Tiandao are engineering marvels in themselves. They have a floating city in the Eye of Jupiter. I've never been of course, unhealthy for Ren physiology, but it's supposed to be magnificent. And we depend on them to mine the xinium."

  "I suppose,” Wen said grudgingly. “So when do we get started?"

  "It'll be a few weeks to get a crew together and put on some finishing touches. You'll be attached to a special squadron on your shakedown run, all Mark IVs. I confess that while the theory is sound and has been confirmed by our best scientific minds we don't really know how a ship like this will operate in practice.

  "You are essentially an experiment. I'm counting on you to figure out this ship, test it, and devise tactics that work and can be taught to others. I don't have to tell you that a lot of valuable resources were diverted to this project and High Command wants to see results. You're dismissed for now. Go get some rest; I expect it will be your last for a long time."

  "Understood, Admiral."

  She paused on the way back to the lift. "One last thing, does this ship have a name?"

  "Void Dragon."

  Chapter 2

  The ship handled like a dream. Captain Wen was fully prepared to take back everything she said to that techie Bruzio. She really couldn't believe it. The Void Dragon was making twenty guangbai, or twenty percent of the speed of light, and Wen hadn't even begun to push her!

  Everything was so responsive. She'd been serving on a dreadnought for years and had become used to the deliberate pace. You might manage eight to ten guangbai at flank speed, but really, their sustainable pace was about five. Merely changing direction was a choreographed production of minutes that required the cooperation of a dozen people. On the Void Dragon movement was as simple as giving the order, speaking of which—

  "Astrogation, set a course for planet three and enter a high orbit. Gunnery, prepare for an omniscan and send it out once we're beyond the moon. Let's see what's out here."

  Their scanners used specially crafted photons designed to bounce off whatever they made contact with and return to the source, allowing them to map a system at the literal speed of light.

  There were some limitations, of course. The speed of light was not that fast on a galactic scale and celestial objects of sufficient size could block their view of anything beyond, to say nothing of the interference from debris fields and light-noise. Despite modern technology, deep space still provided plenty of places for a crafty captain to hide. Well, she was one now so she'd better learn.

  "Captain, we've passed the moon," Astrogation said.

  So fast! "Very well, Gunnery, begin scan."

  Ports all along the ship began discharging light in every direction. These were used for conventional steering and sending out scans as well as the more intense tasks of building up the massive light defensive shields and venting the huge amount of energy necessary to initiate a greenshift jump. All large space-going vessels in the fleet used a similar design. Wen
was thankful for the similarity to dreadnoughts, since while she’d never been allowed to conn a real one, she’d spent plenty of time in the simulator.

  They held their orbit for a time while waiting for the scan to return with information.

  "Gunnery, anything I should know about?" Wen asked.

  "Negative, Captain. The habitable zone around this star appears undeveloped. If there was any Enemy activity it would almost certainly be here."

  "Very well. Astrogation, prepare for a greenshift jump to the outlying gas giant. We'll make a cursory check for stealth mining operations. Start computing a return jump for the asteroid field we passed as well.

  "I doubt we'll find anything but it never hurts to look. Might make a note of sending prospectors here. No point in leaving these resources to the Enemy. Once we're done with that we'll move on to another solar system. You have the itinerary so let's get to it."

  They'd been at this for a while, jumping from place to place only for scans to come back negative. Deep space was simply too big. Most of the war was fought with groups of ships hunting through lots of nothing and only stumbling on the Enemy by random chance.

  It was one big, boring game of cat and mouse. Wen was an old hand at it. She'd gotten used to doing her job subconsciously during these long, uneventful patrols. She never imagined it was actually even more boring for the Captain.

  I need to focus, she thought. We're not even close to done. She summoned the patrol itinerary on her private screen and sighed. Five more today.

  Wait, what’s this? Her personal screen showed a massive, sudden energy spike that disappeared just as quickly. "Gunnery, report."

  "We have contact, Captain, potentially hostile. There is a large amount of light-noise consistent with an incoming greenshift jump. It's on the other side of the planet so we'll have to approach to investigate."

  "Excellent. Go to general quarters. Astrogation, belay previous orders and continue on our present course. The orbit should take us into scanning range in a minute or two. Gunnery, raise shields and charge the main gun. Be ready for anything."

  Wen's fingers trembled a bit as she fiddled with her private screen. Time to see what this baby can do.

  The ship roared to life as energy sinks along the sides glowed bright, chaotic at first but then in beautiful order as differential gravity spirals weaved and concentrated the photons until they formed a solid deflector cone at the bow of the ship.

  "We're getting some interference, Captain, looks like they're scanning as well, definitely not our configuration either."

  The exact configuration of sensor particles served as their identify friend/foe system. Still, it could get chaotic with multiple ships scanning at once. Wen knew first hand what kind of nightmare it was to calculate firing solutions in a big battle with a dozen or more ships blinding her sensors with light-noise every sixty seconds. Hopefully her first action in command would be a smaller, more manageable affair.

  Wen tensed. "Gunnery, do you have anything for me?"

  "Still scanning, Captain. Looks like four vessels in total based on the likely path of their sensor origins, pretty spread out too. Wait, think I've got a fix on one, shields down as well, probably moving into formation with the others, doesn't look like they've noticed us yet. Their systems will take a little time to bring back online so soon after a greenshift jump."

  "Looks like we’ve got the drop on them. Astrogation, maintain course towards Enemy vessel. Gunnery, get me a firing solution as soon as you're able. Let's see if we can't catch them early.”

  The Void Dragon was closing fast, twenty five guangbai and accelerating. Hell, we might actually win this thing before they know what happened. "Gunnery, report."

  "It's a long shot, Captain, and a moving target."

  Wen glanced down at her screen and double checked the predicted trajectory. She'd been an experienced gunnery officer only weeks ago. It looked fine. "Take the shot. Fire!"

  A charge ran down the internal rails of the ship's spinal gun and accelerated the round with a short hum followed by a sharp kick. The recoil wasn't much and Astrogation was quick to correct course. The forward-facing shield cone was blown out for a split second before it reformed. A few seconds passed while the projectile sped for its target.

  "Negative. No hit," Gunnery said.

  "Prepare for another shot." Mm, muzzle velocity of fifty five guangbai according to my screen, kind of anemic. That would’ve been a sure hit with a dreadnought's main gun. A well-calibrated Mark III can make seventy five easy. Looks like the Void Dragon doesn't pack quite as much punch, probably should’ve tested that before now. No matter, we still have the Enemy dead to rights.

  "Ready to fire, Captain."

  That was quick. Looks like they made up for the lack of muzzle velocity with less downtime. Good to know.

  "Fire at will, Gunnery."

  This one hit, and hard. The shot tore through the Enemy ship with no resistance. There was a fast fireball as the xinium reactor exploded in green fire, and was just as quickly snuffed by the empty black, leaving only a dead hulk behind.

  "Good shot. Have anything on the rest of the Enemy squadron?"

  "Definite locations on three Enemy dreadnoughts, still moving into formation but getting close. Will likely have weapons and shields online within the minute."

  "Right, right, time to be a bit more defensibly responsible. Astrogation, compute their likely line of fire and chart a course to avoid it."

  "Already done, Captain."

  Of course Astrogation would’ve already done it. That's what they do. "Course looks good, Astrogation, let's see if we can't turn their flank and hit them before they hit us."

  Wen focused on their target. She had to even the odds quickly while they still had the initiative. Thankfully, the Void Dragon was able to close the distance in record time.

  "Getting readings from the Enemy formation, Captain. Their shields are definitely up," Gunnery said. Something moving at high velocity flickered on her screen's object tracker for a split second. "And they appear to be firing at us."

  "Maintain present course. We can still move faster than they can turn their guns on us. Gunnery, prepare to fire as soon as we have a good angle on the rightmost one."

  That turned out to be only seconds later as the Void Dragon sped for the Enemy's right flank. The shot was a good hit but deflected somewhat by the Enemy ship's shield cone and skipped down the side without doing much damage.

  "Forty five degrees isn’t enough, Gunnery. Get me ninety and get me closer. Bisect the 'T'. With a gun this size we need a perfect shot."

  "The other Enemy ships are turning to face us," Astrogation said.

  "We'll worry about them once this one is dealt with. Gunnery, if you have the shot take it!"

  They took the shot. It pierced the thinnest part of the Enemy shield with ease. Compared to the first it was a slow kill as the Enemy ship lost control of one system after another and began to break apart over the course of a few seconds.

  "Perfect! Two down and two to go. Astroga—"

  The ship shook violently and the lights flickered for a moment.

  "What the hell was that? Report!"

  "Direct hit, Captain! Right on the bow, shield integrity eighty eight percent!"

  "That much from only one hit? This damned ship is flim—"

  Another hit, this one was worse. "Shield integrity fifty six percent!"

  "Where the hell did that come from? Astrogation, take evasive action!"

  "There's no safe course, Captain. Looks like they have us pincered."

  "Then take the least dangerous course," Wen said tightly. "Well, GO!"

  The Astrogation station was chaos for a few moments as the staff worked furiously on their screens. "Captain, it appears that second hit achieved limited penetration and damaged the starboard energy sink. Thrusters are unresponsive."

  "Damn. Get engineering down there and fast."

  "Captain, the Enemy should be prepared to fire
in—"

  Everything went black.

  ***

  "How was your time in the simulator, Captain?" Song asked.

  "Educational," she said evenly.

  "Indeed? I'll have the analysts take a look."

  I’d rather they didn’t. "Admiral, sir, is that really necessary?"

  "Of course, Captain. Your primary role here is testing the ship. We want to see what the Void Dragon can do, strengths and weaknesses, etc. By the way, I have something for you."

  He took a device out of his pocket and fiddled with it for a moment. "Damn codes, always changing. We have a crew waiting for you, all handpicked of course. Ah, a roster should be available on your datapad."

  Wen glanced down at it casually, eyes unfocused. There would be time for that later. Song hurried her along the corridor.

  "Where are we headed, exactly?" she asked.

  "The Void Dragon is getting her final fittings. You'll have a crew and be underway within the week. Don't you want to see?"

  Not particularly, she thought. She wanted some time to decompress from that unpleasantly realistic simulator session. Those immersion engineers had really done their job. She forgot it wasn't real after only a few hours inside.

  Wen followed him anyway and they spent a few agonizing minutes passing through security again.

  They found the Void Dragon in all its glory with the magazine compartment at the stern open and a team of short, stocky Mei stevedores working some kind of conveyor belt. Wen had never actually seen anything like this. The work the Mei did was usually invisible to ordinary Ren fleet personnel.

  "Be careful with that!" Bruzio shouted. "Hey, Song Ming, Cap, you missed us setting the accelerator rails. I confirm they are well-calibrated and ready to go. Now it's just the ammunition, food, water, and the marines' equipment left."

  "Marines?" Wen asked.

  "It was on your datapad," Song said. "The Void Dragon is getting a marine detachment, one full company. High Command wants to test the viability of using the class as a light transport or landing craft. Imagine landing troops behind Enemy lines without warning. It would really mess up their day."