Starbound

by Dave Bara

  “Yes, Captain,” he said to me with respect in his voice. I went over to the table and sat down in a chair, motioning for him to join me, which he did.

  “We have a dilemma,” I said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  I rubbed my face. “We’ve disabled the jump gate ring, so we’ve accomplished part of our mission. But I don’t fancy our chances of getting to the jump point generator if we have to deal with the dreadnought all the way,” I said.

  “I agree.”

  “As it stands we can’t really leave Levant with the dreadnought still here. Their planetary defenses are adequate for a standoff but it would take a fair sized conventional fleet to take the dreadnought out.”

  “Also agreed,” he said.

  “Therefore I have determined we must destroy it,” I said. Serosian eyed me, but said nothing for a long while, so I continued. “It’s my intent to use our gravity-based weapons to achieve this goal. Only that way can we leave Levant safe and free ourselves to join up with the Union fleet at Pendax.”

  Finally he responded. “But the dreadnought is chasing us, not threatening Levant,” he said. “It is just as likely that they will follow us through the jump point, possibly to some Imperial-held system.”

  “Or possibly to Pendax, where we will have to fight them again, along with Gods know how many other ships. We have to get back to Pendax, Serosian, and I can’t leave Levant to defend itself against a dreadnought, nor can I allow that dreadnought to join in an attack at Pendax. In my mind there’s only one choice,” I said.

  Serosian’s jawline began to twitch at this. He obviously disapproved, but I didn’t have time to argue with him.

  “There are ten thousand souls, human souls, on board that ship, Peter. You’ll be snuffing out their lives with impunity,” Serosian said.

  “But they threaten thirty million souls on Levant, and countless others if they get to Pendax, or Quantar,” I retorted.

  “You don’t know that!” he said, angry. Things were escalating now. “They might just make for their home base!”

  “And how likely do you think that is?” I challenged him.

  “Peter, if you do this, you’ll have to live with this decision for the rest of your life. You saw how precious life is at Jenarus, don’t you feel anything about killing that many people?” he said. I had a ready answer.

  “The men and women I lost at Jenarus were my friends, Serosian. These people are my enemies, by their own actions. In my own mind, I can’t equate their lives. They started this. We didn’t,” I said.

  “And how many ‘enemy’ lives can humanity afford, Peter? There are threats out there, threats that may be greater than the empire by a long way, and we may need all of humanity to face those threats,” Serosian said. I looked at him. What he was saying now was something important, but something I didn’t have time for.

  “I acknowledge your warning, Serosian. But my course is set and my decision made. The enemy we face right now is the empire, and perhaps Carinthia. That is all I can base my decisions on. I have to defend Levant at the moment, and then likely Pendax. This dreadnought stands between me and those goals,” I finished.

  “Is this really about Levant, Peter? Or is it about one woman on Levant?” That stung. I cared for Janaan, but I wouldn’t let that affect my decisions.

  “Whatever you think my motivations are, Serosian, I can’t take the risk. This is a war, and they started it,” I repeated. He looked at me, unwilling to back down, but keeping whatever he was now thinking to himself.

  “I’ve made my decision,” I continued. “We’ll use the enveloping gravity plasma. If you can’t follow my orders in this regard then I’ll take care of it myself from my station,” I said.

  “I will make the weapon available to you, Captain, as I’ve promised, but I would prefer not to be the one to use it,” he said.

  “As you wish,” I said, then stood to go back to the bridge. I stopped at the door and turned back to him. “One more thing. If you cannot follow your captain’s orders, then I would prefer you not be on the bridge at all when they are carried out.”

  He looked at me, and I could see that this argument was causing him pain. But I couldn’t prioritize his pain over my judgment as captain of Starbound.

  “I understand, sir,” he said.

  And with that I went back to my bridge.

  Five minutes later and I was under the hood of Starbound’s longscope. Per Serosian’s promise the weapons displays showed all the gravity-related tech at my disposal, unlike at Jenarus when I only had the one option. But at Jenarus I was still a lieutenant commander, not the captain of Starbound.

  I had ordered Layton to turn us around, to backtrack to the dreadnought. For its part it hadn’t wavered at all on its intercept vector toward us. I preferred to think of the great vessel as an automaton, but I had no reason to question Serosian’s assessment that it had a crew of some ten thousand. All the Imperial ships we had encountered had been nothing but hostile toward the Union since our first encounter, and I had no sympathy for the crew of the dreadnought. Following orders or not, they were the enemy because they had made themselves so, and they threatened many people I cared about both on Levant and elsewhere.

  The display showed a simulation of our attack, and I ran it three times to be sure. The gravity plasma had a range of ten thousand clicks, close enough for them to reengage us with missiles but too far for energy weapons. I ran the sim one last time and it generated a 99-percent probability of success if we fired the weapon at eighty-eight hundred kilometers or closer.

  I came out from under the hood of the longscope.

  “Mr. Longer, estimated time to reach eighty-eight hundred clicks range of the dreadnought on an attack run?” I asked. Longer looked down to his board at his station and ran some quick calculations.

  “Seven minutes, sir, if we begin attack deceleration in the next thirty seconds. But we’ll be in range of their missiles for at least three minutes of that time,” he said.

  “Understood. Bring the Hoagland Field to max and take us on an intercept course for the dreadnought. Begin deceleration at the thirty second mark,” I ordered. Commander Babayan came up beside me then.

  “What’s our play, Captain?” she said. I looked at her, then activated the shipwide com on my captain’s couch.

  “All hands, this is Captain Cochrane,” I started. “In the next few minutes we will engage with the enemy dreadnought. Our mission, and my decision, is to destroy this ship with a mass-destruction weapon provided by the Historians. I don’t intend for any of you to be involved in firing this weapon, except as may be required in the normal function of your duties. I want you to know I have not taken this decision lightly, but we are at war, and many difficult decisions may come in the days ahead. Man your stations, perform your tasks to the best of your abilities. I or the XO will inform you when this action is complete. Until then, things might get a bit bumpy, but rest assured the dreadnought cannot damage us with our Hoagland Field active. Captain out.” I cut the com line.

  “I want you to know I trust your judgment, sir,” said Babayan.

  “Thank you, XO,” I replied. Nothing about this was easy, but I appreciated the support.

  I took my seat again and transferred the gravity weapon firing control to my station. I didn’t want anyone else but me being responsible for using it.

  The ship rocked and rolled as we absorbed missile after missile from the dreadnought’s seemingly endless supply. I watched on the tactical screen as we crossed the eighty-eight-hundred-click range. I ordered us to full stop.

  “All stations, prepare to fire,” I commanded. Babayan went to her board.

  “All stations report green, sir,” she said.

  “Standby,” I ordered. I took one last look at the dreadnought on the visual display, the lights of her decks illuminating dark space. There w
ere people on her, no doubt, but I didn’t hesitate. I couldn’t. “All hands stand down,” I said to the bridge crew. The order made them put their hands to their sides. This would be my act, and my act alone. I hesitated only a second longer.

  “Firing the weapon,” I said out loud.

  The bridge lights dimmed just a bit as the twin coil cannon ports released the gravity plasma. The plasma accelerated outward, coming together in a silver-tinged bubble. I watched as it closed on the dreadnought, taking only seconds to reach first impact, and then seconds more to envelop the entire behemoth. The plasma closed down on the great ship, and I saw its shape begin to deform under the mass of ten thousand suns projected into a confined space. It was like watching a slow death ballet as the great ship twisted and turned, collapsing under the stress. The dreadnought then imploded before bursting outward in a blinding flash of light that was quickly smothered by the dissipating plasma.

  The bridge was silent.

  “Not reading anything out there at all, Captain. Not even debris,” said Babayan quietly.

  I stood up from my station. “All hands, resume full duties. XO, inform Levant that the threat posed by the dreadnought has been eliminated,” I said.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Mr. Longer, engage the hybrid drive. Mr. Layton, take us back to Artemis Station. Inform them that we’ll need a restock on atomic torpedoes ASAP. Once we’re reloaded, get us to the jump point with best possible speed. Lieutenant Hogan, if you can calculate a trip that will shorten our time in traverse space to Pendax, please do so,” I said. There was a round of quiet acknowledgments of my orders. I turned to Babayan.

  “XO, you have the con. Inform me when we’ve completed restock on the torpedoes and are headed for the jump point. And have the crew stand down from battle stations and get some rest. I doubt we’ll be getting any once we reach Pendax,” I said.

  “Acknowledged, sir,” said Babayan. “I have the con.”

  I made for the lifter, my knees a bit unsteady and my hands shaking, but firm in my belief that I had made the right decision.

  Three hours later I was informed by Commander Babayan that we had accomplished the restock and were headed back to the jump point to Pendax at best possible speed. I had inherited a very efficient crew. Artemis didn’t have a full complement of torpedoes for us, but the fifty they did have would come in handy in any battle. The delay to restock cost us nearly ninety minutes of travel time, but I felt it was worth it.

  We made our run to the jump point in what I was sure was record time, but there was no one there to record it and to me it was irrelevant. I just wanted to get my ship to Pendax. Nonetheless, I made a notation in my log to have it verified once the crisis was past. I wanted my crew to receive any due credit for their accomplishments.

  We made the jump into traverse space quickly and without issue. Jenny Hogan was making no promises about our time in the jump bubble, but secretly I hoped she had something up her sleeve. I returned to my stateroom, leaving Babayan in command. A few minutes later there was a buzz at my door. Surprisingly, I opened it to find her on the other side.

  “Come in,” I said. “Everything running smoothly upstairs?”

  “How else do you think I could leave Layton in charge?” she said. We laughed, and then sat down. She looked pensive.

  “What do you think we will encounter at Pendax?” she asked straight away.

  “I wish I knew. Best guess is some kind of combined Imperial-Carinthian fleet,” I said.

  “Dreadnoughts and Lightships?” she said, concern on her face. I shrugged.

  “With our new weaponry and upgraded Hoagland Field, we should be able to hold them off. It would take quite a barrage of power to destroy us or Valiant,” I said.

  “But we know they have everything from displacement-wave weapons to that anti-graviton weapon. Those could be big trouble.”

  “They could, but we’re ready for them. The only question is, what’s their game plan? We don’t have enough total firepower to fight off a combined fleet for a long period of time. The best we could hope for is a standoff. So far these battles have just been a series of small skirmishes, and we’ve won all of those,” I said. Babayan got quiet then.

  “What?” I asked her. She sighed.

  “Sir, it’s no secret on the bridge that you and Serosian disagreed on destroying the dreadnought. I think it would be helpful to morale if you two were at least able to patch things up on the surface, for the crew’s sake,” Babayan said.

  I looked at my XO. “I’m sure it would be helpful, but I’m not sure it’s possible. Serosian has agreed to follow my orders for the moment but he is still his own man, and not under my direct authority. The Historian Order is independent of the Union Navy. I can only do as much as he will allow me to. As to patching things up, that seems impractical at the moment,” I said.

  “With apologies in advance, Captain, but you’re certainly not going to be able to patch things up sitting in your cabin.”

  She had a good point. “You’re probably right. I suppose I do owe the Historian another visit,” I admitted. Babayan nodded.

  “For what it’s worth, sir, the bridge crew all think you did the right thing.”

  “Thank you, Lena,” I said, then stood to indicate our meeting was over. We said our goodbyes and then I got myself together and made my way out of my cabin, walking through officer country, and then down the galleria toward Serosian’s cabin. The crew were more than willing to acknowledge me as I went. Some even congratulated me on the outcome of the battle at Levant. I took it all in as I walked, thankful to have the crew’s support. It didn’t help my trepidation as I rang the chime on the Historian’s quarters.

  He let me in without a greeting; the door just opened automatically. When I came in he was standing at the library’s map table, a 3-D display of nearby star systems projected above it.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Latest intelligence from our longwave probes. Scans are about six hours old,” Serosian said. As I approached I could see he was moving from system to system with just a wave of his finger through the display, the visual view following his motion and bringing up any system he desired.

  “Six hours ago we were fighting in Levant space,” I said.

  “I receive these updates from Earth automatically,” he said. As I watched he pushed in on a star, which zoomed in and expanded to reveal the Pendax system. A sweep of the fingers and it expanded again, showing Valiant and a dozen Wasps in a defensive formation in close proximity to the system’s ingress jump point. There was neither an Imperial force nor a Carinthian one present. “That’s where the next battle will be staged,” he said. “Within a few light-minutes of the jump point.”

  He swept his hand again and blew the view back out, then closed in on a familiar yellow-orange star. I recognized Quantar immediately. It showed five Wasps in a defensive tactical array, as well as multiple Quantar Navy ships. Our system certainly looked well defended.

  “You can see all this in near real time?” I asked. He nodded.

  “Yes. Our longwave probes send periodic updates or as needed on request, through our ansible network. Right now the system is sending hourly reports, but I can’t receive them in traverse space,” he said.

  “Well, I’m just glad our enemies can’t see these,” I said.

  “They can.”

  “What?”

  Serosian looked at me for the first time since I had entered the room. “We all can. The Historian Order is officially neutral in any internal conflict like this, Peter. These reports go out to any Historian working on any Lightship, so that means the Carinthian ships are receiving them, too.”

  “So you’re saying that the Carinthian fleet can see all the defenses we have set up on any system scanned by your probes?” I said.

  “No. I said the Historians are receiving them.
What they choose to do with that information is for them to decide. The captains of those ships may not be seeing these displays. It’s at each individual Historian’s discretion.”

  I found that troubling. “Somehow I doubt that if Prince Arin is working with Mr. Tralfane that he is not receiving this information,” I said. He shrugged.

  “Perhaps, perhaps not,” Serosian said.

  None of this was good news to me. The idea that Historians on a Lightship could be making their own decisions on what information to share with their captains was disturbing. My relationship with Serosian was no doubt strained right now, and frankly, part of me wondered if I could trust him completely. “Sixteen hours in traverse space is a long time. You could be sending us into a trap at Pendax,” I said. He turned his attention back to the star display.

  “Six hours ago Pendax was clear and the Carinthian Fleet was stationed somewhere beyond our longwave probe network’s ability to detect. As of now, any battle with Imperial forces should result in a Union victory, and any conflict with the Carinthian Fleet should be a standoff, if you follow the rules of engagement.” He said the last like a pointed barb, and I didn’t like it.

  “I came here to see if we could find common ground again,” I said. “But I can see that common ground is not something that Historians seem willing to find, with anyone. It appears you and your order have your own agenda, Serosian. Mine is protecting this ship, my world, and the Union. And it seems as if I will have to conduct myself on my own in that regard,” I said. I turned to leave the room.

  “Will you use the gravity weapons on Carinthian ships, Peter?” he asked as I reached the door. I turned and glared at him.

  “Not if I can avoid it,” I said.

  “And if you can’t?” I didn’t hesitate.

  “Then I’ll use whatever I weapons I have at my disposal to win this battle. If you disagree with that, feel free to remove yourself from my ship at your earliest convenience,” I said, and walked through the door without another word.