A Galaxy Unknown

by Thomas DePrima

  "I understand. I'm careful about my weight also, but I can never resist a good cup of coffee. Tell me, Captain, what were you doing stopped in open space?"

  "Our collision avoidance systems shut down our Light Speed drive and we stopped to investigate. At first, we thought that two freighters might have collided and broken apart. Since we're unable to use our AutoTect systems, the risk of collision is always of grave concern. We sent out space tugs to gather the cargo containers and clear a path, only to learn that there were just a few actual containers. We discovered that they were filled with electronic equipment sending out false contact information in a sort of a fishnet of electronic signals that made our collision avoidance system believe there were hard contacts ahead. That's when we were attacked. Our warships engaged the cruiser to screen our escape in sub-light, but the Raider cruiser managed to severely damage two of our escorts with torpedoes in the first few minutes of battle. The third destroyer, originally posted as rear guard, moved to engage a group of fighters that suddenly appeared in front of us. They made a valiant effort, and destroyed a dozen squadrons armed with missiles, but there were just too many of them. Firing from her ceased just before you arrived."

  The com system on the desk buzzed before Jenetta could respond. Lifting the com screen panel to answer, she watched as an image of Charley filled the screen.

  "We're about to complete the linkup with our cargo section, Captain."

  "Carry on, Chief, and return us to the Nordakian ships as soon as you've completed the link procedure."

  "Aye, Captain."

  "You run a taut ship here, Captain," Captain Yuixotical said as Jenetta pushed the com screen back down.

  "It's easy when you have a top crew. They make me look good. Now, how soon do you think you can be underway?"

  "My latest information is that we'll need at least a week to make repairs to the Klidestru. She's the most severely damaged."

  "I don't believe that we can afford to remain here a minute longer than necessary. The Raiders may already have additional ships on the way, and they'll come in greater force this time. Your three, fully laden ships, have to be too tempting a target for them not to try again. I'm frankly surprised that they sent only one cruiser for the assault. I was expecting to face a small task force as we moved in."

  "We can't possibly leave any of our ships. The situation on Obotymot is dire and these supplies are too vital to our people there. Many die each day. Although the dust in the upper atmosphere has finally started to settle, it might be decades before the environment on the planet allows it to be totally self-sustaining again. Part of our cargo is new equipment for the establishment of hydroponics cultivation processes in converted grain warehouses."

  "There's an old Earth saying," Jenetta said. "‘Half a loaf is better than none.'"

  “Ah! We have a similar saying on our world, derived from a popular apologue. We say, ‘Tis better to dine with a dalinnar, than sip sulp soup.'”

  In response to Jenetta's questioning look, Captain Yuixotical said, “A dalinnar is a rodent who eats tullibers; but they only eat the centers, where the seeds are located. You must carefully cut away any part of the tulliber where the dalinnar has gnawed because its saliva is mildly toxic. Ingesting it can make you quite ill. Usually, only half of the tuber winds up being edible. Sulp is a kind of grass that grows in fresh water near the shore. It's slightly bitter tasting and provides no nutritional content to Nordakians, but it can be used to fill the belly when food is unavailable, merely as a means of chasing away hunger pangs.”

  “Ahh, I understand.”

  "But despite our mutual sayings, we still can't leave a single ship. You have to help us, Captain. Perhaps you can get reinforcements from GSC."

  "The nearest GSC warships are at least a month away; far too distant to assist us. We're on our own, I'm afraid. Can your ship, the one capable of only fifty-five percent power, exceed Light-75?"

  "Just barely— I believe."

  "Good. We'll let it proceed under its own power then, instead of towing it. Jenetta stood and crossed to the large display screen on the wall. "Computer, display the star chart for this section." When the chart appeared, Jenetta stared it for a few minutes. The first two joints of the index finger of her right hand rested along the center of her lips and her thumb curved around her chin as she thought. Extending her hand, she touched a spot on the viewscreen and said, "Computer, voice on, identify."

  "Asteroid ring around the star Zighesta. No planets exist in this solar system."

  "Time at Light-75?"

  "Fourteen hours, six minutes, thirteen seconds."

  "Computer, identify," Jenetta said as she touched another spot.

  "A small absorption nebula, commonly known as Periseras. Approximately three-thousand kilometers across, the cloud is densely composed of interstellar gas and dust."

  "Time at Light-75?"

  "Seven hours, fifty-five minutes, twenty-two seconds."

  "Computer, voice off."

  Turning to face the captains, Jenetta said, "We're much too vulnerable here, and our options are limited. The asteroid belt would give us excellent cover while you make repairs, and it's only fourteen hours away, but I think the space dust cloud, Periseras, would be a better choice. It will shield us from the Raider's electronic sensors while concealing us visually, it's only eight hours away, and it's marginally better aligned with the route to Obotymot."

  "We still have the problem of the Klidestru, Captain. The engines are off-line and can't be restarted without a major repair effort. If we tow it, the entire convoy will be limited to Light-75."

  "Perhaps the Vordoth can take it to the cloud. Are our container locking systems compatible?"

  "No. Our newest freighters and cargo link-sections are built with the Lewiston container locking system that you employ, because it's pretty much become the standard system in this quadrant of space. But until all our ships are converted, and link-sections replaced, we're employing adapter links for coupling the incompatible sections They don't provide internal tunnel access to the containers, but they're secure. All Nordakian ships carry at least one adapter link in case we need it. It should be a relatively simple matter to connect with your ship, but you already have a cargo. How long are you?"

  "Just over six kilometers."

  "The Klidestru, like our other two ships, is maxed out at ten kilometers, the maximum safe length permitted by Galactic Alliance regulations. Your ship may not be able to handle the load, and control may be impossible."

  "I believe it would be less dangerous than remaining here to face Raiders who are no doubt aware of the battle location. Someone is definitely going to be looking for the cruiser that we just destroyed."

  Captain Yuixotical sighed, making a strange nasal sound. "You're right, of course."

  "Our first priority, after searching your destroyers for survivors, must be to patch all holes so we're not leaving a trail that the Raiders can follow. Then we'll get underway."

  "Search and Rescue teams left the ships at the same time we did. By now they're working their way through the destroyers to see if anyone is still alive. Others are at work sealing the holes in the cargo containers. The cargo is too precious to let any escape."

  Jenetta lifted the com system screen, punched a button, and said, "What's our position?"

  The helmsman replied, "We're at rest relative to the convoy ships, Captain, five kilometers off the stern of the Jouraklihest."

  Jenetta lowered the com screen and looked at the Nordakian captains, saying, "If we're in agreement, I suggest we get to work."

  The three visiting captains stood, thanked Jenetta profusely for her help and hospitality, and turned to leave. Since none of the visitors had changed their hue while in her presence, she felt that they were satisfied with the arrangements.

  Gloria escorted the Nordakians to Bay Two so they could return to their ships, and then returned to the bridge where Jenetta was sitting in her command chair watching the acti
vity on the large viewscreen. All exterior lights on the freighters were illuminated, and Nordakian crewmen and space tugs were busy everywhere, performing emergency repairs to the freighters.

  "It looks like we're going to be delayed again, Captain," Gloria said.

  "We saved them, so I guess that makes us sort of responsible for them until they reach Obotymot. We certainly can't just leave them here without a destroyer escort. As soon as the tugs are clear, move us into position to attach the Klidestru and have Charley link us up."

  "Aye, Captain."

  * * *

  Chapter Thirteen

  ~ July 17th, 2267 ~

  Unsightly is far too kind a word to describe the emergency patches to the three freighters. If anyone was disposed towards making light of the situation, they might have said that the patches made the ships look far worse than the actual damage. But they weren't leaving a trail anyone could follow when the small convoy of ships finally got underway for Periseras three hours later. The Nordakians had used pieces of hull from the fighters, destroyers, and even the Raider cruiser to complete their repairs as expeditiously as possible. Aboard the Vordoth, the gunners had remained at their weapons consoles the entire time, while the bridge crew spent the hours scanning space for Raider ships, fearful that reinforcement vessels might appear at any time. They didn't.

  It took almost seventeen hours to reach the dust cloud, instead of the predicted eight, because the freighter with the partially damaged power system couldn't maintain Light-75. Her Nordakian captain reported early on that the ship was in danger of shaking apart because of power fluctuations from their temporal envelope generator. At Light-40, the generator power was stable enough to continue. Space tugs could have been used to tow the ship at Light-75, but 40 c was certainly adequate for a successful evacuation of the battle zone and Jenetta didn't want to stop to make the changeover once they were finally underway.

  Upon reaching Periseras, the convoy moved in cautiously, just far enough to insure that the sensors of anyone looking for them would be confused by the murky background, but not so far in as to have their own sensors rendered completely ineffective. Separating from the Klidestru, the Vordoth moved off a short distance to give the Nordakians unimpeded access to their ship. Space tugs immediately took control of their damaged vessel and pushed it into position next to the other Nordakian freighters. As round the clock repairs began, Charley initiated a maintenance program of his own to tidy up the emergency repairs made after the initial attack on the Vordoth. Since the Vordoth had to stand by anyway, he would use the time to best advantage, also assisting the Nordakians wherever possible.

  On the second day following their arrival at the Periseras nebula, Crewman Pieter Johnson had been hunched over the science station console for more than ten minutes, muttering to himself and punching contact points on the keyboard. Finally he said to Jenetta, "Captain, there's something strange here. Two of the three cargo containers that we left behind seem to be moving."

  Jenetta rose from her command chair and moved to look over his shoulder.

  "See, Captain," Johnson said pointing to the monitor, "the tracking transponders are sending clear signals, although they're a little weak at this distance, and they're a long way from where we left them. This plot shows you how far the two undamaged link-sections have traveled since we dropped them off. They've almost reached the damaged link. They have to be traveling FTL."

  "Excellent job, Mr. Johnson. Keep an eye on them and continue to plot their course."

  "Aye, Captain," he said, beaming proudly from the compliment.

  Climbing back into her chair, Jenetta appeared to be watching the front viewscreen, but she was actually thinking about the movement of those cargo containers. She knew that it had to be either the Raiders or salvagers, and since this area of space was clearly dominated by Raider forces, it seemed illogical to presume that independent salvagers might be operating here. More likely the Raiders were cleaning up the mess to hide evidence of their operations. The unprocessed ore in the containers had a respectable value, but its sale could leave a trail back to the Raiders, unless they had covert access to a processing facility.

  Being able to track the cargo containers offered a unique opportunity to find out where the Raiders were taking their loot. Unfortunately, having successfully slipped away from the Raiders, Jenetta couldn't report the information to Space Command until they were clear of Raider space, and by the time GSC ships got here, as much as four months might have passed. The ore cargo would be long gone by then, possibly even processed and moving through distribution pipelines.

  Jenetta waited almost an hour before checking with crewman Johnson at the science station again. She learned that the transponders had definitely moved some distance from their previously reported locations.

  It was almost noon when Jenetta walked to the officer's mess. Gloria, the Doctor, and Charley were seated at the large white table enjoying the noon repast served up by Anthony. They started to stand up as Jenetta entered the room.

  "As you were," Jenetta said quickly. It had become an automatic reaction by now. Everyone jumped when she entered a room, and she told them to sit back down. She had concluded that this must be why so many GSC captains took their meals in the small, private dining room that usually adjoined their quarters, or in their briefing rooms. Hurrying over to see what Jenetta wanted for lunch, Anthony took her order and then rushed away to prepare the food.

  During a lull in the conversation at the table, Jenetta said, "There's a new development. The containers that we were forced to leave behind are moving."

  "Moving? They can't be," Charley said. "The braking thrusters would prevent that from happening."

  "We've tracked them for over an hour, since we first detected their movement, just to be sure. Also," Jenetta paused for effect, "they're all moving in the same direction, at FTL speeds."

  No one spoke for several seconds. Everyone realized the implications of the statement without further elaboration. Finally, Gloria ventured rhetorically, "Raiders."

  "That would be my guess. I think they're cleaning up now that their attack has failed, and salvaging what they can. The question is: ‘Where are they taking the containers?' To their base, a processing plant, or just a storage area?"

  "I'd sure love to know," Charley said.

  "So would I— that's why I've decided to follow them."

  "What?!" Gloria said excitedly. "You want us to track them to their base? That would be suicide!"

  "Yes, it might be," Jenetta said calmly. "That's why I've decided to go alone. I'll take a space tug."

  "Alone?" Charley said. "You can't go alone, Captain. I'll go with you."

  "Me too," Gloria said.

  Jenetta grinned at Gloria. "But didn't you just say that it would be suicide?"

  "And I still think that, but you can't go alone. And maybe you won't take as many chances if you have to think about the lives of others."

  "I need you to stay here, Lieutenant. It'll be your job to get the freighters to their destinations if I don't make it back. And the same goes for you Charley. I need you here to keep things running. I do appreciate the offers though, especially in light of the possible danger. I've given this a great deal of thought during the past hour. Captain Lentz told me that Space Command doesn't have a clue as to where the Raiders hide between attacks. This intelligence information could be vitally important. It might even provide a means of reducing the pirate activities in this deca-sector. I can't afford not to go, but I also can't risk your lives any further."

  "You can't go alone, Captain," Charley said. "If we can't join you, how about asking for a couple of volunteers from among the crew?"

  Jenetta grinned. "You don't think that I can pilot a space tug?"

  "There's more to handling a tug than you might think. It's not just a significantly more powerful shuttle. If you get into a situation where there are other tugs, you have to know both the written and the unwritten rules of space tug opera
tions in order to avoid detection, and you don't have time to learn them all right now. The signal from that tiny transmitter will be getting weaker by the minute as it moves further away at FTL. If you're determined to do this, you'll have to leave almost immediately."

  "You're right about my not knowing space tug operation protocols, but I hesitate to put anyone else's life in jeopardy again. I've already asked too much of this crew."

  "The crew has come to believe that you live a charmed life. After the last fight, where we destroyed a medium cruiser and almost three dozen fighters without taking a single serious hit ourselves, they'd follow you down the cone of an active volcano on Io."

  "We were lucky, Charley. That cruiser's crew obviously wasn't properly disciplined. They were most likely aware that there are no GSC ships in the sector and were watching the battle instead of their sensors and rear viewscreens. I was counting heavily on just that lack of attention when we attacked, but I was just as surprised as everyone else that they never even ejected counter measures. Like the Raiders aboard the destroyer, they probably never contemplated being attacked by a freighter. If they'd been more alert, we could easily have been on the receiving end of a couple of torpedoes. And I never expected us to actually destroy such a large and powerful vessel. Initially I was only hoping that our torpedoes would sufficiently damage whatever ships we encountered so that we could help the Nordakians escape while the Raiders were handling their emergency repairs. As to the fighters, the gunners get all the credit for that. The excellent training that Gunny Rondell gave them kept them intensely focused on their job, while the fighter pilots panicked when their ship was destroyed, and paid the price."

  "Oh, Captain, it's a lot more than just luck. It's your training, intelligence, and— temerity. But that doesn't change the fact that you still need help for this job."

  As they talked, Anthony brought her food and Jenetta ate. She used her napkin to wipe her mouth when she was done, pushed her plate away, stood up, and walked over to the com panel on the wall. Picking up the receiver she said, "Com? This is the captain. Put me on ship-wide broadcast."