by Tony Healey
"Ah. So he's your counter-weight."
"Yes!" Kolvin laughed. "Yes, exactly. I need him in that engineering room when I'm not there, because I know he won't take risks. He'll do everything by the book. You won't find a better engineering room in the whole fleet. Trust me on that."
"Oh I agree with you."
They both watched him work for a moment. "Are you nervous?" Kolvin asked him.
"Not particularly. Don't forget, this isn't my first time going up against these people. I just want to find the Amarax so we can rally the fleet."
"That's understandable. And hey, you know you're looking for a wing man for this mission?"
Banks nodded. "Yeah?"
"Well consider everything I just said about Chip and tell me he isn't the perfect guy to fly with?"
"You're joking, right? He can't fly . . ."
The Chief's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You wanna bet?"
* * *
Hemmed in on all sides by the endless expanse of the Chimera Cluster, the star system was a ruin of broken planets.
"Awful," Ensign Gordon said, looking up at the viewscreen in dismay. "I wonder if there was life here."
"We'll never know," Dr. Gentry said.
"Eyes on the prize, Ensign," Chang told her. "Hold our position here at the edge of this system. Our primary concern right now is to locate a suitable chunk of planet. Doctor, anything look like it might be the one?"
"As a matter of fact . . . no. They're all too small."
"Oh."
"However, I do have another idea. If you'll consider the map again," Gentry said. Chang watched as it appeared on the screen again, this time in more detail because they were so close. There was the sun, and a wide ring of material around it. Then a second and third ring, both of these more tightly packed.
"This isn't what we saw before. There were whole big pieces of planet there."
"Yes. For one reason or another, things have changed. We're now dealing with smaller material. It would appear that since the map was recorded in the database, an event occurred here to make what was left of the planets smaller. However, I have a solution to our problem."
"I'm all ears."
"Indeed. The third ring there, with the greatest depth of debris, has a constant rate of velocity and trajectory. At least, constant enough for our needs. We can simply slip inside of it and match it. If we cut everything bar enough energy output to maintain our own velocity relative to that of the debris field, we will be virtually invisible."
"I'm with you, Doctor," Chang said. She nodded. "Yes. Very good. Ensign, you heard the man. Set a course for that ring. Use a burst of speed then cut the engines and supplant that with frequent bursts of output. Dana, full communication blackout."
"Yes Captain," Lieutenant Oriz said. "You have Chief Kolvin on the line."
"Go ahead."
The Chief's voice boomed from the speakers. "Captain, we're ready down here. Awaiting your order."
"Hold while we get into position, Chief. Is everything set with Lieutenant-Commander Banks?"
"Yes Captain. He and Chip are in their fighters, ready to go."
Chip? "I'm sorry, Chief. Did I hear you correctly?"
"Yes, the Lieutenant-Commander and Chip are on standby, Captain. Was there an issue?"
You're calling me out on this, aren't you? You know if you'd approached me prior to our arrival I'd have rejected. But now, there's no time.
"Nothing that can't be resolved later," Chang said icily.
"Understood, Captain. Chief out."
She bit her tongue. Dana looked over at the Captain's chair. "How am I handling communication with the fighters, Captain?"
"Visual only. Convey to both Banks and Chip that once they launch, they're on their own. I don't even want them contacting each other unless they're in danger."
"I'll tell them at once."
"Once they launch, put their feeds up on the viewscreen. Once they have visual, they can return to the Intrepid."
Chang listened as her orders were relayed to the awaiting pilots. It wasn't that she had an issue with Chip performing the same duties as any other crew member, but he was untested. To put him in the pilot's seat like this, without consulting her . . . she couldn't have it. The Chief would have to be spoken to.
This is a small test, and the first of many, she thought. This is command. This is command. This is command.
The Intrepid coasted into the system, under brief bursts of power. Ensign Alanna Gordon did an admirable job of maneuvering the ship up close to the band of debris that encircled the sun like the ring of a gigantic planet would.
"I have a suitable break. Ensign, if you get into position and yaw to starboard, we will fit inside with ease," Gentry told Alanna at the front.
"Easy for you to say . . ."
"Switch to starboard camera," Chang said. The screen showed what they were drawing close to: a rapidly moving field of jagged, deadly rock and shards of spiky ice. The light of the sun cut through those icy daggers, and they sparkled like diamonds, glittering against the dark.
"Moving across," Ensign Gordon said, her voice tight. "Easing back on thrust to match velocity."
"Easy. Don't rush."
The Intrepid veered gradually in among the rock and ice, not so much as striking a single piece. The Ensign adjusted their heading slightly. "Cutting thrust back to less than three percent. Just enough to hold position and continue our orbit."
"Excellent work, Ensign. Monitor our heading, though. We can't drift. There's no margin for error."
Start slipping away from your intended course inside an asteroid field and you're dead, simple as that, she did not tell her. Too much realism for one day as it was.
"Shutting down all scanners but short-range proximity and internal sensors," Dr. Gentry reported.
Chang looked at him. "Cut internal power, too. Everything we don't need."
"Yes Ma'am."
The lights instantly dimmed around them, the sound of the air recyclers quieted to a whisper.
Lieutenant Oriz turned from her station. "Comms are offline. Intership only."
"Good. Dana, tell Banks and Chip they may proceed with their mission."
Dana nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
No going back now. And there's always the possibility we've already been detected or . . . the fighters get detected and they trace them back to the Intrepid, attacking us while we're powered down and defenceless. Again, Chang told herself: This is command.
"Dana, tell them to be careful out there."
"Will do."
When Chang looked about, Dr. Gentry was watching her, his wise face world-weary and knowing. He smiled weakly and turned back to his readouts. Chang wondered why he'd been watching her, what he was trying to see and decided the scientist was thinking the same as her. Gentry's analytical mind assessed the operation and he was just as mindful of its shortfalls as she was. What seemed a simple plan had many flaws that could result in crushing failure.
But what she appreciated was that like her, he had not communicated those concerns to the crew. They were a given danger; no need in scaring the ship with what might happen. For an unstable mad scientist, he could be surprisingly supportive at times.
Chang watched the fighters exit the Intrepid from the starboard bay doors. They sped off in opposite directions, yet both were searching for the same thing – an Enigma, a nemesis.
An answer as to what, exactly, the Namar were doing in the Chimera Cluster . . .
11.
Lieutenant-Commander Kyle Banks lifted the nose of his fighter and sped up, past the debris. The ring fell away behind him. He glanced to the right, saw Chip's fighter heading the opposite direction, but matching his maneuvers.
So the Chief was right. He really can fly.
It felt strange not only to be away from the Intrepid in own small craft, but to be completely cut off from her, too. He rarely ever got the chance to pilot a small ship, and when the opportunity arose Banks could never fi
nd within himself to pass it up willingly. Even a mission as dangerous as the one he flew right then. High stakes and a high level of danger involved just served to make it all the more exciting. Besides, he couldn't willingly allow someone with less experience to run the op, knowing he was a better fit for it.
Normally, he would have reported his progress, but there wasn't anyone to talk to. The in-flight systems would record every move he made, his position in the system, his heart rate. Every possible bit of data they could.
Checking his aft camera, he could no longer spot the Intrepid in among the rocks. She was well hidden.
He turned back to what lay head. A second ring, racing up to meet him like a jagged wall of death. He increased altitude relative to his position, getting clear just before he reached them. A collision with a single lump of rock would prove catastrophic. And what was more, there were no redundancies aboard. Chip had stripped the two fighters back to the absolute bare essentials.
Already it was hot in there. It would only get hotter, he knew. With the fighter components heating up through his mission, the temperature would rise to uncomfortable levels.
Hence his race toward the sun. Chip would be doing the exact same thing, shooting for the other side. Between the two small ships, they had a monster to find.
Two Davids in a race to seek out Goliath.
* * *
"Their progress?" Chang asked.
Dr. Gentry shook his head helplessly. "I'm afraid they have passed beyond the limits of our sensors, Captain. All we can do is await their word."
"I don't like this," Chang said, pacing the bridge. "View from their forward camera?"
Dana brought it online. The screen refused to display anything, then it sluggishly showed the first few frames of Banks's flight away from the Intrepid. The feed was heavily marred by the radiation and interference of the Cluster itself, but was clear enough to discern what was happening.
"Appears to be heading over the second ring," Gentry said. "Even hidden among the particulates and debris in the inner ring, the Amarax should be clearly visible silhouetted against the sun."
Captain Chang turned at the sound of someone walking onto the bridge – Chief Kolvin.
"Captain."
"Chief."
He took his seat and Chang turned back to the viewscreen, wondering now why she'd been so angry at the Chief's apparent insubordination. All feeling toward the matter had faded, leaving little more than cool disaffection in its wake.
The viewscreen showed Banks's ship rocketing over the last of the second ring. Chip's showed the same.
"Okay everyone, keep your eyes open."
"It's the only problem with this plan," Lieutenant Oriz said from the communication's station. "If we spot it before they do, there's no way of telling them."
"I think it's a fair bet they will spot it the same time as us," Dr. Gentry said. "Think of the sheer size of the Amarax. A wonder of engineering."
"You're still in awe of it, aren't you Doctor?" Chang asked.
"I don't know how you can't be," he said, his voice clipped and defensive. "I wish we were able to study it in greater detail. Unfortunate, things turning out the way they did."
Chang thought of the Defiant battling Cessqa. Commander Greene's death. Before that, their year spent exploring the outer edges of the galaxy and all that had happened. And even before that, her time as Science Officer under Jessica's Father, Captain Andrew Singh.
So much had happened in such a short space of time.
"I think it's a shame also, Doctor. But I feel our time of studying the Amarax is behind us. Once we have a location, we will call the fleet. They will converge on this location, and together we'll attempt to take the Amarax – and her commander – into custody."
Chief Kolvin spoke, his voice deep and gravelly. "And if we can't?"
Chang turned to face him. "I guess we'll destroy them."
* * *
Chip monitored every aspect of the fighter's function, his hands deftly steering the light craft along the edge of the inner belt. The tumbling matter blurred past, yet he could see every individual rock, every granule as it circled the sun of the shattered system.
The heat issue within the fighter was a concern, but hardly a grave one. There was plenty of time to do a lap of the sun at maximum velocity, using the star's own immense gravity for assistance.
Twenty-three minutes and sixteen seconds into his flight, Chip caught a glimpse of a dark object within the belt. He slowed, turned back toward it.
A positive identification. From what he had been given access to, the object within the belt was definitely the Amarax. He would have turned back right there and then, returning to the Intrepid before his ship overheated.
But there was another structure with the Amarax. Chip ensured the fighter was pointed in such a way as to afford the bridge a good view of what he was seeing – a black, cobweb structure several hundred metres across, facing the sun. It was a hexagonal shape, with the strange weblike frame. His sensors detected minor energy output from it. The Amarax held position to the side.
He held his location for a moment longer, then turned and headed back toward the Intrepid.
* * *
Banks spotted the flash of Chip's fighter as it rose against the stars and headed back to the ship. He took that as his sign and followed suit, privately thankful to be heading back.
It was getting far too hot inside the cockpit and he could feel himself cooking.
* * *
"Kyle is turning back too," Chang said. "Good. Now we've got what we need. Dana, wind that back, let's take a good look at whatever that was next to the Amarax."
She did so, the viewscreen showing a good view of the structure. "Reminds me of a fly swat."
Chang looked at her. "A what?"
"You know, those things you smack flies and things with."
"I'll take your word for it."
Dr. Gentry worked his station. "I have the location. I'm adding it to the map we have in our database already so that we can see the Amarax's position in real time. Unless, of course, they move."
"Something tells me they came here because that – whatever it is – was here. They're not going anywhere," Chang said. "Any ideas, Doctor?"
"None at present. The fact that it is facing the sun, is quite interesting. Perhaps it is something to harness the sun's energies?"
"Perhaps," Chang said. "Chief? Thoughts?"
Kolvin shrugged. "I am baffled, Captain. It looks like nothing I have seen before, that's for sure."
"Me neither," Ensign Gordon said. "It definitely looks like a net of some kind, though."
"Chief, why don't you head on down to the landing bay, you've got two hot birds coming in that will probably require your expert attention," Chang told him. "Extend my thanks to both, but particularly to Chip. He found them."
Kolvin smiled. "Thank you, Captain."
He made to leave. She stood from her chair. "Chief, I doubted your reasoning earlier and for that, I apologise. You were right."
He bowed his head and made a discreet exit. Chang turned to Dana.
"Lieutenant, prepare a data packet for command. Send directly to Admiral Kerrick."
"Aye."
I want to see how he is going to respond to this. Will he send the fleet . . . or will he leave us to face them alone?
12.
Professor Dajani walked out to the landing platform, noted the yacht and the elegant middle-aged woman stepping out from behind it.
"Doctor Kingston?" he asked.
She walked up to him, took both of his hands in hers. "Professor. It's been too long."
"I hardly believed it when the security team told me who had arrived. I don't often get many visitors here, you see."
"I am no stranger to secret facilities, as you well know," Kingston said, a warm smile on her face.
He started to lead her away. Half a dozen security personnel waited by the door for him to return, and he waved them off.
They filed inside ahead of him. "What brings you here?"
"I need your expertise," Kingston said, stopping. "I've brought something with me I think you will find fascinating."
He was uncertain. "I don't know . . ."
"It's just in the ship. I had to find you, bring it straight to you."
"What is it? This is most peculiar, Doctor," Dajani said, backing off a step, then another.
Dr. Kingston opened her arms. "After all these years of looking, I've finally found good hard evidence as to the Heart of the Galaxy's resting place."
"The Heart? The Heart, you say?"
I'm winning him over, Kingston thought.
"One and the same. It was quite extraordinary, to be honest," she said, slowly walking back to the yacht and hoping beyond hope he would automatically follow her.
Don't look back, like you're worried he's not. Take it for granted he's right behind you.
"Where did you find it? In what form is it?"
His voice was very close behind her. She did not have to look. "On Zac'u IX where I've been working these last few years. We were excavating a cave there, as you know the planet is uninhabited, apart from us temperamental scientists, of course."
He managed a laugh. "Yes."
She led him around the side of the yacht, to the open hatch. "That's when we found it. I'm afraid it's in some form of ancient language I've not yet been able to decipher. I was hoping, seeing as the search for the Heart is still primarily your area, that you might be able to succeed where I have failed."
"You have humbled over the years," Dajani said, getting to the hatchway.
Dr. Kingston stepped aside for him. "And you've grown complacent," she said, voice icy cold.
Dajan frowned, peered into the yacht, his face shocked at the sudden movement within. "What the–"
The blue stun beam struck him square in the chest, sent him flying back where he staggered for a moment, then dropped to the floor, arms and legs flapping. For a big girl, Barbie moved with the grace of a ballerina as she stepped out of the yacht and fired at him again. Professor Dajani became still.
The Mantipor scooped him up, and was about to take him inside the yacht when a shot ricocheted off the hull above her head. She dropped Dajani inside and whirled about.
