by Doug Farren
Stricklen switched one of his screens to a tactical view and looked at the display for a moment. "I agree. If they continue on their present course they will remain out of weapons range. What the hell are they up to?"
"I don't know," Doug replied running his hand through his red hair. "As soon as we figure it out though I'll let you know." The screen darkened as Scarboro ended the link.
An hour and thirty-five minutes before the Chroniech's closest approach, the Hess informed Ken that all alignments had been completed and the Dragon was declared marginally spaceworthy. The final drive system adjustments would have to be done after the ship reached orbit. Stricklen ordered everyone aboard and all non-crew to leave. Ten minutes later the Komodo Dragon was once again on its way back into its natural element. As soon as the ship was in orbit, the Hess began the low-power alignment of the stardrive. Ken put the ship at battle stations and waited.
Painfully, slowly, the minutes crept by. Stricklen paced the floor of the control room, his attention alternating between the tactical display showing the position of the approaching Chroniech fleet and the propulsion system status board. He knew that the drive system must be properly aligned or the Komodo Dragon could tear itself apart when they attempted to use it. Until the alignment was complete, all he could do was wait. It was going to be very close.
"Chroniech are dropping to normal", CIC reported. "Their weapon systems are active."
"We're not going to make it," someone said just loud enough to be heard.
"What are they doing?" Stricklen muttered to no one in particular. The approaching fleet was shown in three-dimensional detail within the large tactical viewer. The various consoles on the bridge were laid out in the shape of a large parabola with the captain's chair located at the apex. This chair was raised slightly higher so the captain could have a clear view of all the consoles. The tactical viewer was placed inside this parabolic arrangement of consoles thus affording each and every bridge officer a view of the tactical situation.
The tactical viewer was a large globe capable of rendering images in full three dimensions. Special colors and codes were used to indicate velocities, distances, types of ships, etc. A trained bridge officer could interpret the various codes and colors at a glance. The computer was also programmed to make visible many of the things that were normally invisible, such as energy beams.
Stricklen was paying very close attention to what was being displayed inside the viewer. Instead of the standard vee-shaped attack formation, the Chroniech were splitting their forces. As he watched, the assault platforms joined themselves together with a network of bluish energy beams. Each of the platforms emitted two beams — one to each of the other assault platforms. The rest of the ships began to drop back and appeared to be entering a holding position.
"Logistics — analysis of the Chroniech formation," Stricklen said.
Before logistics could reply, another voice said, "Bridge, this is engineering. The drive system is aligned. We are FTL capable but you're going to have to take it slow for awhile. The propulsion control computer will not allow you to exceed a one cee per second velocity change and will force you to halt at one hundred cee intervals for a few minutes so the final alignments can be completed."
Stricklen acknowledged the message from engineering. Before he could utter another word, the door to the bridge opened and the marine guard who was supposed to be preventing unauthorized entry was backpedaling into the room. He took about three steps before he completely lost his balance and fell with a loud thump onto the deck. He was quickly followed by an obviously enraged Falnath. She let out a loud hiss toward the marine which seemed to dare him to challenge her. The marine started to reach for his blaster but was stopped short by a command from Stricklen.
"Hold your weapon!" he yelled. "Falnath! You've got five seconds to explain yourself or I will have you put in the brig."
Falnath spoke so fast her vocoder lagged behind. Being a simple translator, it did not impart the urgency that Stricklen knew was in her voice. "You must tell the Hess to override its programming and open fire immediately. The Chroniech formation must be destroyed before they can position themselves in the beam of the pulsar."
"Why? You don't really think that… "
"There is no time to explain," Falnath interrupted. "Give me an open channel to the Hess and I will explain the situation to it." Without waiting for a reply she started to move toward the communications console.
Coming to a quick decision, Ken motioned for the communications watch to establish the connection. Falnath rushed over to the console and spoke rapidly. The Hess responded in Falnath's native language. The conversation lasted for about a minute and then abruptly ended. Falnath slowly turned toward the captain and said, "We must leave orbit immediately. The Chroniech are about to destroy the Hess and there is nothing that we nor they can do to prevent it."
Stricklen was momentarily stunned into inactivity. The Hess destroyed? How? Then, realizing the source of the information he turned away from Falnath and said, "Helm — get us out of here as fast as possible. Set a coarse to put as much distance between us and the Chroniech. As soon as you can, engage the stardrive and set course for our destination." Turning back toward Falnath he said, "Explain."
Falnath had a dejected look about her. Her tail drooped and her head slowly swayed back and forth. She spoke quietly, the vocoder translating her words but, as before, not her tone. "I have been watching and analyzing the Chroniech's activities and I have determined the purpose of their formation. The Hess has been doing the same and agrees with me as to its potential.”
"The three assault platforms are generating a hyperdimensional matrix field that has been configured and tuned to form a gigantic, highly efficient lens. I believe it is their intent to place this lens within the beam of the pulsar in order to focus and concentrate the beam onto the planet. If they are successful, the Hess believes its defense shield will be penetrated and it will be destroyed. So far the Chroniech have remained outside of the Hess' weapons range."
"They're going to focus the pulsar beam onto the planet? That's preposterous!" Stricklen remarked. "The beam coming from that pulsar consists of more raw power than could be generated by thousands of planetary assault platforms. How the hell can you even think the Chroniech have the ability to control that much energy?"
"I will not waste my time trying to explain to you anything about hyperdimensional theory or how a small force can be used to control a much larger one. You must simply believe me when I tell you that the mathematics predict that what they are attempting is indeed possible."
Falnath did not bother to wait for a reply. She turned and slowly made her way out of the control room. She muttered an apology to the marine as she passed. As the door closed behind her the communications watch said, "There goes our new high speed communications network."
Stricklen jerked himself back to the business at hand. He checked the displays and tactical readouts to verify that the Dragon was making its way out of the system. He then looked at the engineering readouts to make sure the propulsion system was functioning properly. If all went well, the ship would be able to engage the stardrive in a matter of minutes. After all the important items had been checked, Stricklen thought about the communications watch's comment. What he had said made perfect sense.
"Open a channel to the Hess!" he ordered.
Once the connection was established Stricklen said, "You have stated there is a strong possibility that the Chroniech will be able to destroy you. If they succeed, the Alliance will no longer have access to the communications network provided by your probes. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this?"
"The destruction of this unit is highly probable," the emotionless voice responded. "The probes are programmed to render themselves inoperative if approached by an unauthorized ship. The recognition codes for the probes and a procedure for preventing this self-destruction in the future is being uploaded to the Alliance network. The exact loca
tion and heading of each probe is also being uploaded. In the event of this unit's destruction the network will remain active and under Alliance control."
"Is there anything we can do to help improve your chance of survival?"
"Negative. The Chroniech have technical knowledge concerning the manipulation of transdimensional space which this unit does not possess. They have obviously been monitoring the activities in this area for some time and they have devised a method by which our defenses can be circumvented. Your highest priority at this point in time is to return the Kyrra to their people."
"Captain," Scarboro said as his face appeared on a screen. "The Chroniech fleet is moving to intercept. I detect at least forty ships breaking formation. Until we get the stardrive aligned, we will not be able to outrun them. Assuming they steer a course that keeps them out of the range of the Hess weapons, they could intercept in as soon as forty minutes."
"Thanks Doug. Power up all weapons and drop a couple of probes to see what happens," Stricklen replied. Turning back to the Hess he said, "The Chroniech fleet is trying to cut us off. We will not get very far before they catch us. Let's just hope our new weapons can get us out of this — Komodo Dragon out."
The minutes ticked by as the Komodo Dragon slowly made its way out of the gravitational influence of the pulsar. The tactical viewer showed the Chroniech fleet taking a long looping course toward them. Ken strongly suspected they knew what sort of weapons the Hess had at their disposal and they were maintaining a comfortable distance from them. The continuous analysis of the tactical situation by the Dragon's tactical computer showed the Chroniech fleet slowly closing the gap between themselves and the Dragon.
"I have an idea sir," someone said.
Stricklen turned around to see his communications watch looking at him. "Let's hear it Mr. Jurasinski."
"If I recall, the Hess stated they have several hundred probes in storage on the planet. Unless I'm mistaken, each one of those probes is powered by a small reactor which could theoretically be made to detonate. In effect, the Hess have a small supply of missiles."
Stricklen was impressed. "Mr. Juransinski, I think you may have a career in battle tactics after this is over. Open a channel to the Hess."
As the channel was being opened, the Dragon made the change-over to FTL drive. Unlike the standard Kauffman stardrive used by Humans, there was no noticeable effect as the drive fields formed around the ship. "Channel open sir."
Stricklen quickly outlined the proposal to the Hess. "Only an aggressive species would think of using a probe as a weapon," the Hess replied. "In order to make the probe as small as possible and to enable them to travel for very long distances they are powered by matter/anti-matter reactors. Although there are numerous safeguards, a method of triggering an explosion is possible. Your suggestion will be implemented."
"The planetary assault platforms are in position," Scarboro announced from CIC. "A visual from our probe is available on com channel eight."
Stricklen switched the tactical viewer so they could all see what was happening. "Multiple launches detected from the surface," Doug announced. "Looks like at least 375 small high speed probes are heading this way. ETA three minutes."
"They must have exhausted their entire inventory," Stricklen commented.
The formation of assault platforms had entered the radiation beam of the pulsar. Although the intense radiation was invisible to the naked eye, it had an extraordinary effect on the defense screens of the three ships. Each of the powerful defense screens was ablaze with deflected energy. Stricklen was amazed the Chroniech shields could withstand that kind of punishment considering how close they were to the pulsar.
Acting as a single structure, the formation altered its position slightly. A moment later, some sort of intense green energy field formed between the three ships. At first, nothing seemed to be happening but as Stricklen watched, something strange began to occur.
The pattern of deflected energy began to change. Streamers of excited particles began to flow across the defense shields toward the center of the three platforms. Stricklen entered a command into his console and finally understood what was happening. The sensors of the probe had detected a powerful force field of unknown structure coming from the assault platforms which was acting like a gigantic funnel. The radiation beam from the pulsar was being guided so that it passed through the center of the formation where other forces were at work.
In a process too complicated for him to understand, the Chroniech had created a giant lens using fields of force alone. In effect, all the available power from a large portion of the pulsar's radiation beam was being concentrated and focused into a coherent beam of indescribable power. The Chroniech were apparently having some difficulty stabilizing the effect, since the beam never fully reached a highly focused pattern. It seemed to sputter and spray out into space almost as soon as it was formed. Stricklen watched as they worked to bring the beam into proper focus.
"Hess probes approaching Chroniech fleet," Doug announced. "Detecting massive energy discharges. Tactical says they're matter/anti-matter explosions… Chroniech fleet is now sub-light… More explosions… Drive wakes detected, they are in pursuit again. Looks like seven… no — make that eight ships still on an intercept course."
"Look!" someone shouted. The probe had turned its pickup toward Shaular. A large silvery dome of force had formed over the Hess installation. This was the defense shield of the Hess in its most protective mode. Something was beating against the shield with unbelievable force. Huge solar flare like discharges of deflected energy erupted from the shield's surface. The entire shield seemed to waver and ripple as it fought to protect the Hess.
As suddenly as it began it ended. The Chroniech were unable to accurately direct their new weapon to a given target and thus the beam wavered about the surface of the planet. In its wake, a red hot ribbon of molten rock tens of kilometers wide and several deep marked its path. Bare rock met with the unleashed power of a dead star. It did not glow, or even boil, it literally exploded instantly into vapor. Wherever that finger of energy touched, destruction resulted.
Eventually, the wandering beam of incomprehensible power once again reached the Hess base. As before, enormous ribbons of energy cascaded off the defense shield. The silvery surface of the shield wavered and rippled and then promptly ceased to exist. With horror, the crew of the Komodo Dragon watched as the Chroniech allowed their awesome beam to pass over the Hess installation several times.
On its third pass a massive explosion occurred. An enormous column of molten and solid rock was thrown into the sky — some of it achieving escape velocity. The shock wave of the explosion was visible as it raced across the surface of the planet. An expanding ring of dust and tectonic upheaval speeding away from the epicenter of the most titanic explosion anyone had ever witnessed.
The entire world of Shaular shook with the force of the explosion. The containment field holding the anti-matter within the stasis chamber's power plant had either been breached or been deliberately shutdown. The Hess were no more.
There was a deathly silence on the bridge. Even though everyone knew the Hess was not a living creature, they all felt a deep sense of loss. Some thought of the Hess as a sentient being and morned the loss as if it had been a living breathing individual. Others saw the loss of an incredible technologically advanced device along with all the knowledge it held.
Stricklen waited until the pursuing Chroniech fleet was only a few minutes from intercept before he issued his next order. "Helm - disengage stardrive and drop to normal. Weapons - bring all systems on-line and designate all incoming targets as hostile. Permission is granted to open fire as soon as they are within range. CIC - give me a tactical of the incoming ships."
Stricklen had decided to stand and fight when and where he chose and not the Chroniech. The planetary assault platforms were not an immediate threat since they were so far down the pulsar's gravity-well that it would take them many minutes before they cou
ld try to engage their own stardrives. The tactical display which appeared on the bridge's main viewscreen showed him what they were up against.
Eight Chroniech warships had survived the Hess attack. Five of them were heavy cruisers and the other three were battleship class. If he had been in command of the old Komodo Dragon Stricklen would have tried to run. But the ship he now commanded was protected by the advanced weapons technology of an ancient civilization.
Kyrra designed and Hess built, these weapons provided the Dragon with unparalleled destructive power and Stricklen had no qualms about using them against the Chroniech. After hearing what the Hess had said earlier about Chroniech technology he fervently hoped his new weapons would be adequate.
"Chroniech ships dropping to normal," a voice from CIC reported. "Sledgehammers are charging. All other weapon systems are on-line and locked. Sensors show the Chroniech weapons are powered."
Confident of their ability to destroy a single Alliance warship, the Chroniech advanced. They soon discovered their intended prey was no ordinary Alliance ship. It had been previously learned that the Chroniech weapon's had a range of about 115,000 kilometers. At a distance of 130,000 kilometers the Komodo Dragon opened fire. Two brilliant white beams of energy stabbed out from the Hess weapons. A Chroniech battleship found itself in a losing battle for its own existence.
The defense screen of the enemy ship flared into brilliant denial, throwing enormous bolts of dissipated energy back into space. Even at this extreme range the shield was no match for the Kyrra weapons. Within a few seconds, it began to leak and soon portions of the hull started to glow. After a few more seconds, the shield collapsed entirely and one Chroniech ship was no longer a threat.
The remaining ships were now within their own weapons range and opened fire. At this range the Hess shield easily fended off the assault. The Dragon's tactical computer evaluated the situation and within three microseconds had retargeted its weapons.
Since the enemy ships had closed the distance to the Dragon the effectiveness of the weapons involved had increased. The Dragon's tactical computer took this into account and divided the Hess weapons between the two remaining battleships. The now fully charged sledgehammer's along with every non-Kyrra weapon the Dragon had to offer simultaneously opened fire.
